Cam Smith still on course for a strong shot at green jacket
The greenest thing at Augusta National Golf Club is the area around Cam Smith’s gills.
The greenest thing at Augusta National Golf Club is the area around Cam Smith’s gills.
He’s climbed out of his Miami sick bed, kissed Greg Norman and LIV Golf goodbye, jumped on a flight to Georgia and gingerly walked into Augusta National Golf Club to start the gentlest of US Masters preparations.
It’s a gutsy campaign. “Getting there,” he says. Food poisoning forced the ex-British Open champion out of last week’s rebel event at Donald Trump’s Blue Monster course in Florida, where someone needs to have a word with chef.
The timing of his illness could not have been worse, robbing him of a warm-up tournament before his Olympic hopes go on the line at Augusta.
Tiger Woods’ red shirts for the final round are part of Masters’ lore. Smith is desperate to win the tournament in a Queensland-themed maroon shirt. “Usually Original Penguin (his sponsor) kit me out for the Masters and they tell me what to wear so I don’t really get much of a choice,” he says. “Other than my one request of the maroon on Sunday.”
Thousands upon thousands of patrons flooded the National as the 89-strong field hit the course for practice rounds. You know those queasy days after food poisoning? That’s smith. He spent a fair whack of time on the chipping green and driving range as Fox Sports’ analyst and ex-US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy claimed the Queenslander British Open had the intestinal fortitude – assuming it’s properly recovered – to be more green around the jacket come Sunday evening.
“It’s hard to get a feel for how these LIV players are playing because we don’t see them against everyone else every week,” Ogilvy said. “But Cam Smith is a big-meet performer, if you like, he always seems to show up for the big tournaments. He’s had two or three really good weeks around Augusta over the years, he came really close in 2020. He’s got the parts, he’s sneaky long off the tee and he just has an incredible knack, almost that Jordan Spieth knack, of just creating a score even when it’s not going well.”
Ogilvy added: “He has an incredible short game. He’s one of the best putters in the world. When the lights go on at a big tournament, Cam seems to bring his best. Cam comes to something like the Masters and he’s going to be a tough guy to beat.”
Smith has lined up a practice round with amateur Jasper Stubbs for Wednesday. The driving range has 29 hitting bays, 28 of which were empty when young the young Victorian strolled out. He’s not exactly the biggest name in town. When the Golf Channel ranked all 89 players in the Masters field, Stubbs came in at a stone-cold 89th.
Not that he cares. “Coming to Augusta, it’s obviously always highly spoken about how perfect it is and it definitely lives up to that expectation,” he says. “Magnolia Lane with the flowers out is an amazing sight. I think the crowd is the thing that’s going to be the biggest eye-opener for me. That’s going to be different to any other week that I’ve ever experienced.”
He wants to finish in the top 12. To receive an exemption for next year. “I wouldn’t say it’s an expectation but it’s definitely something that I’m striving to do,” he says. “I’m not here to make up the numbers. Dad’s been telling me, ‘Everyone in the field this week’s got a chance to win.’ So I’ll be keeping that in the back of my mind at all times.”
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