Cameron Smith (golfer) explained

Cameron Smith
Birth Date:18 August 1993
Birth Place:Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height:5 ft 11 in
Weight:172 lb
Residence:Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Yearpro:2013
Tour:PGA Tour of Australasia
LIV Golf
Extour:PGA Tour
Asian Tour
Prowins:12
Pgawins:6
Eurowins:4
Auswins:3
Livwins:3
Majorwins:1
Masters:T2: 2020
Usopen:4th/T4: 2015, 2023
Open:Won: 2022
Pga:T9: 2023
Award1:Asian Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year1:2014
Award2:PGA Player of the Year
Year2:2022

Cameron Smith (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. He won the 2022 Open Championship, and has won five other tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the 2022 Players Championship. He has also won the Australian PGA Championship three times.

Early life

Smith was born in Brisbane, Queensland,[1] and grew up in the northern suburb of Bray Park where he attended Pine Rivers State High School throughout his upbringing.[2] As a two-year-old, Smith began playing at Wantima Country Club,[3] a small golf course in the northern suburb of Brisbane[4] while his father Des worked as a printer[5] and was a club captain at the club.[3] Smith's mother, Sharon, worked at the local department store.[5] Smith has a sister, Mel.[6]

Professional career

Smith turned professional in 2013[7] and played on the PGA Tour of Australasia. He was tied for second at the 2015 Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship and at the 2016 Emirates Australian Open.[8]

2014

Smith played on the Asian Tour in 2014, finishing in the top-10 seven times and finishing 5th on the Order of Merit. His best finish was tied for second at the 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters. Smith's first PGA Tour event was the CIMB Classic in October 2014, which was a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour; he tied for 5th.

2015

In April, Smith tied for 15th in the RBC Heritage, playing on a sponsor's exemption. After qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open, his top-4 finish earned him an invitation to the 2016 Masters Tournament.[9] The finish also earned Smith Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.[10] Smith earned his 2015–16 PGA Tour card by earning enough as a non-member to have been in the top 125 on the money list: his best three events would have been sufficient.[11]

2016

In 2016 Smith finished 157th in the FedEx points list. His performance in the Web.com Tour Finals, where he was runner-up in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, allowed him to return to the PGA Tour for 2017.[12]

2017

In May, Smith, partnered with Jonas Blixt, won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the first team event on the PGA Tour since 1981. The pair did not make a bogey during the tournament and defeated Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner in a playoff. It was Smith's first career PGA Tour win.[13] He had two top-10 finishes on the 2017 PGA Tour, tying for 6th place at the Valero Texas Open and for 7th at the Wyndham Championship and finished 46th in the FedEx Cup standings. He started the new PGA Tour season by tying for 5th place in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and finishing 3rd in the CJ Cup in South Korea in late 2017. Smith continued his good form by finishing 4th in the Emirates Australian Open and then winning the Australian PGA Championship the following week, beating Jordan Zunic in a playoff.[14]

2018

In December, Smith defended his title at the Australian PGA Championship, winning by two strokes over Marc Leishman.[15]

2019

In December, Smith played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Smith went 1–1–1 including a win in his Sunday singles match against Justin Thomas.[16]

2020

In January, Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff over Brendan Steele; his first individual victory on the PGA Tour.[17]

In finishing tied for runner-up to Dustin Johnson at the 2020 Masters in November, Smith became the first golfer in Masters history to shoot four rounds in the 60s (67-68-69-69).[18]

2021

In April, Smith won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the second time. This time he was partnered with fellow countryman Marc Leishman. The duo won in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.[19]

Smith qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and competed in the men's competition in July/August 2021. He scored −14 across the four rounds and finished tenth. In spite of shooting 66 in the third and fourth rounds, he was still out of medal contention.[20]

2022: Players and Open Championship victories

In January, Smith won the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort on Maui, Hawaii. Smith shot a PGA Tour record of 34 under par winning by one stroke over world number one Jon Rahm. 34 under par beat the previous mark of 31 under par set by Ernie Els at the same tournament in 2003.[21] In March, Smith won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, becoming the fifth Australian to win the tournament; having hit his second shot on the final hole into the water, Smith managed to get up and down to make a bogey and finish one stroke ahead of Anirban Lahiri.[22]

In July, Smith won his first major championship at the 150th Open Championship, played at the Old Course at St Andrews. He shot a final-round 64 to come from four strokes off the lead and finish one shot ahead of Cameron Young and two ahead of joint third round leader Rory McIlroy.[23] During the FedEx Cup Playoffs in August, he struggled with a hip injury, and did not play in the second event, the BMW Championship.[24] At the end of the PGA Tour season, he won the PGA Player of the Year award.[25] In November, Smith won the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship for the third time.[26]

Joining LIV Golf

At the end of August, following the Tour Championship, it was announced that Smith had joined LIV Golf.[27] The move had been speculated since The Open, with him repeatedly declining to confirm or deny the rumours.[24] [28] [29]

Smith finished in a tie for 4th in his first LIV start in Boston, with Dustin Johnson winning the 3-man playoff.[30] He won in his second start, scoring rounds of 66, 68 and 69 to finish on 13-under par to win by three shots ahead of previous winner Dustin Johnson and Peter Uihlein. Smith won over $5 million from his first 4 starts on LIV Golf.[31]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (6)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Players Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (4)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
11 May 2017Zurich Classic of New Orleans
(with Jonas Blixt)
−27 (67-62-68-64=261)Playoff Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner
212 Jan 2020Sony Open in Hawaii−11 (70-65-66-68=269)Playoff Brendan Steele
325 Apr 2021Zurich Classic of New Orleans (2)
(with Marc Leishman)
−20 (63-72-63-70=268)Playoff Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel
49 Jan 2022−34 (65-64-64-65=258)1 stroke Jon Rahm
514 Mar 2022−13 (69-71-69-66=275)1 stroke Anirban Lahiri
617 Jul 2022The Open Championship−20 (67-64-73-64=268)1 stroke Cameron Young

PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12017Zurich Classic of New Orleans
(with Jonas Blixt)
Scott Brown and Kevin KisnerWon with birdie on fourth extra hole
22020Sony Open in Hawaii Brendan SteeleWon with par on first extra hole
32021Zurich Classic of New Orleans
(with Marc Leishman)
Louis Oosthuizen and Charl SchwartzelWon with par on first extra hole
42021The Northern Trust Tony FinauLost to par on first extra hole

European Tour wins (4)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
13 Dec 2017
(2018 season)
Australian PGA Championship1−18 (68-67-67-68=270)Playoff Jordan Zunic
22 Dec 2018
(2019 season)
Australian PGA Championship1 (2)−16 (70-65-67-70=272)2 strokes Marc Leishman
317 Jul 2022The Open Championship−20 (67-64-73-64=268)1 stroke Cameron Young
427 Nov 2022
(2023 season)
Fortinet Australian PGA Championship1 (3)−14 (68-65-69-68=270)3 strokes Ryo Hisatsune, Jason Scrivener
1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
13 Dec 2017Australian PGA Championship1−18 (68-67-67-68=270)Playoff Jordan Zunic
22 Dec 2018Australian PGA Championship1 (2)−16 (70-65-67-70=272)2 strokes Marc Leishman
327 Nov 2022Fortinet Australian PGA Championship1 (3)−14 (68-65-69-68=270)3 strokes Ryo Hisatsune, Jason Scrivener
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12016Emirates Australian Open Ashley Hall, Jordan SpiethSpieth won with birdie on first extra hole
22017Australian PGA Championship Jordan ZunicWon with par on second extra hole

LIV Golf League wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
118 Sep 2022LIV Golf Invitational Chicago−13 (66-68-69=203)3 strokes Dustin Johnson, Peter Uihlein
29 Jul 2023LIV Golf London1−15 (63-67-68=198)1 stroke Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed
313 Aug 2023LIV Golf Bedminster1−12 (66-67-68=201)7 strokes Anirban Lahiri
1Co-sanctioned by the MENA Tour

LIV Golf League playoff record (0–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12023LIV Golf Tulsa Branden Grace, Dustin JohnsonJohnson won with birdie on first extra hole
22024LIV Golf Hong Kong Abraham Ancer, Paul CaseyAncer won with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters TournamentT55T5
U.S. OpenT4T59CUT
The Open ChampionshipCUT78
PGA ChampionshipT25CUTT56
Tournament201920202021202220232024
Masters TournamentT51T2T10T3T34T6
PGA ChampionshipT64T43T59T13T9T63
U.S. OpenT72T38CUTCUT4T32
The Open ChampionshipT20NTT331T33CUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
0 1 1 3 5 5 8 8
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 8
0 0 0 2 2 2 9 6
1 0 0 1 1 2 7 5
Totals 1 1 1 6 9 12 33 27

The Players Championship

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 20202021
ChampionshipT6T22T11
Match PlayQFT61NT1T28
Invitational23T12T59T5
ChampionsT64T54T60NT1NT1
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Recognition

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Sam . Tremlett . 15 Things You Didn't Know About Cameron Smith . Golf Monthly . 16 March 2022 . 16 March 2022.
  2. News: Jim . Tucker . Bray Park golfer Cameron Smith will put two-day 'recce' to test at world famous Augusta National . . 11 November 2020 . 6 April 2016.
  3. Web site: Matt . Cleary . Cameron Smith is Australia's newest major champion and golf's everyman . . 24 July 2022 . 18 July 2022.
  4. News: Dean . Bilton . Cameron Smith's road to Open triumph a story of one fearless Queenslander whose humble beginnings made a champion . . 24 July 2022 . 17 July 2022.
  5. News: Oliver . Brown . Meet the man behind the mullet – Open leader Cameron Smith shows he can do it his own way . . 24 July 2022 . 15 July 2022.
  6. News: Pengilly . Adam . The PVC pipe that started Cameron Smith on the path to superstardom . . 24 July 2022 . 18 July 2022.
  7. Web site: Smith makes his Aussie debut at the QLD Open . PGA of Australia . 21 August 2013 . 21 August 2013 . https://archive.today/20130821202331/http://www.pga.org.au/article-display-australasia/Smith-makes-his-Aussie-debut-at-the-QLD-Open/136446 . 21 August 2013 . dead . dmy-all .
  8. Web site: 2024-02-08 . Cameron Smith . 2024-02-08 . hsbcgolf.com.
  9. News: Australian golfer Cameron Smith fires early at Pebble Beach . The Sydney Morning Herald . 12 February 2016 . 9 March 2016.
  10. News: Smith (T-4): Temporary membership, Masters invite . Golf Channel . Will . Gray . 22 June 2015 . 23 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150623150146/http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/smith-t-4-temporary-membership-masters-invite/ . 23 June 2015 . dead .
  11. Web site: Cameron Smith – Profile . PGA Tour . 16 June 2021.
  12. Web site: Cameron Smith – Results . PGA Tour . 2024-02-08.
  13. News: Cameron Smith-Jonas Blixt team wins Zurich Classic in a playoff . ESPN . Associated Press . 1 May 2017.
  14. Web site: Cameron Smith wins Australian PGA Championship . Mike . Randleman . Pro Golf Now . 3 December 2017 . 20 July 2022.
  15. Web site: Cameron Smith defends Australian PGA Championship title by two strokes. ESPN . 2 December 2018 . 2 December 2018 .
  16. Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks. David . Dusek . Golfweek . 15 December 2019 .
  17. News: Australia fires: Cameron Smith dedicates Sony Open win to homeland . BBC Sport . 13 January 2020 . 20 July 2022.
  18. Masters 2020: Cameron Smith makes Augusta history and still doesn't get a green jacket . Golf Digest . Brian . Wacker . November 15, 2020 . November 15, 2020.
  19. News: Australian duo Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman win Zurich Classic in playoff . ESPN . Associated Press . 25 April 2021.
  20. Web site: Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021 . 2022-04-16 . The Roar.
  21. News: Cameron Smith (34 under) sets PGA Tour record, outlasts Jon Rahm at Sentry Tournament of Champions . Associated Press . ESPN . 9 January 2022 . 9 January 2022.
  22. Web site: Aussie Cam Smith seals 'wild' $5m Players Championship win after 'rollercoaster ride' . Fox Sports . 15 March 2022 . 15 March 2022.
  23. Web site: Open Championship 2022: Cameron Smith reels in Rory McIlroy to win Claret Jug and eclipse Tiger Woods record . Eurosport . Alex . Livie . 17 July 2022 . 17 July 2022.
  24. Web site: Beall . Joel . Priest . Evin . Cameron Smith WDs from BMW Championship, citing hip injury . Golf Digest . 2 September 2022 . 15 August 2022.
  25. Web site: Cameron Smith Captures PGA of America Player of the Year Award & Rory McIlroy Wins Vardon Trophy . PGA of America . 29 August 2022.
  26. Web site: British Open champion Cameron Smith wins 3rd Australian PGA . Associated Press . 27 November 2022 . 27 November 2022.
  27. Web site: Lavner . Ryan . Cameron Smith outlines reasons why he left Tour for LIV Golf . Golf Channel . 2 September 2022 . 31 August 2022.
  28. Heath . Elliott . Cameron Smith Fails To Deny LIV Golf Rumours . Golf Monthly . 2 September 2022 . 17 July 2022.
  29. News: LIV Golf: Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann join Saudi Arabian-funded series . BBC Sport . 30 August 2022 . 30 August 2022.
  30. News: Cameron Smith finishes fourth on LIV Golf debut but still pockets over $1m . The Guardian . 5 September 2022 . 30 October 2022.
  31. LIV Golf prize money: How much every player has earned so far . Today's Golfer . Rob . Jerram . 17 October 2022 . 30 October 2022.
  32. Web site: Cameron Smith double Aussie titles . iseekgolf.com . Anthony . Powter . 16 April 2011 . 22 January 2013.
  33. Web site: 2012 Australian Men's Amateur Championship . https://web.archive.org/web/20130316021057/http://www.golfaustralia.org.au/default.aspx?s=iframepage&iframe=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.golfaustralia.org.au%2Fsite%2F_content%2Fdocument%2F00011029-source.pdf . dead . 16 March 2013 . Golf Australia . 22 January 2013 .
  34. Web site: Smith and Lee crowned Amateur champions . https://archive.today/20130219173446/http://www.golfaustralia.org.au/default.aspx?s=australian-amateur-display&id=75658 . dead . 19 February 2013 . Golf Australia . 22 January 2013 . 22 January 2013 .
  35. Web site: Cameron Smith comes full circle with Greg Norman Medal win . Australian Golf Media . 25 March 2021 . 30 March 2021.
  36. Web site: 15 December 2022 . Jessica Stenson and Athletics among big winners at AIS Sport Performance Awards . 16 December 2022 . Australian Sports Commission.