AUGUSTA - Any other April, Cameron Smith would be cutting a pretty wide swath here in Azaleaville.
The reigning PGA Player of the Year is coming off a definitive season, winning five times on three continents, including his first major at the Open Championship at St. Andrews. He has further demonstrated that Augusta National does not scare him, with four top-10 finishes in the last five years, including a surging performance last spring that only went sideways late Sunday afternoon, a closing 73 leaving him tied for third.
But this is not any other April. Smith has been virtually irrelevant this season. As one of 18 players in the Masters field who jumped to LIV Golf, his play has been limited by LIV’s slow-starting schedule, with just four events contested so far. When he has played, he has not particularly impressed. He tied for 29th last week in Orlando, 10 shots behind winner Brooks Koepka, and ranks 18th in LIV’s individual championship points.
He has admitted his offseason training regime slipped over the winter. And if the year’s first major doesn’t generate enough drama on its own, this will be the first tournament with qualifying LIV players, who were all suspended by the PGA Tour for defecting, competing against their old comrade-in-arms.
“A little more sauce,” is how Koepka puts it. And so it was with some hesitation, after months of heated dialog, lawsuits and charges of treachery, that Smith made his way onto the practice tee Monday afternoon to face old colleagues he hadn’t seen since last summer. Somewhat to his surprise, he found smiles and outstretched hands.
“I was just kind of letting it all kind of happen naturally,” he said. “Went out on to the range and did my stuff and did my work and, yeah, it was just a really nice experience. I don’t know, I didn’t want to expect too much but at the same time, I kind of wanted that, not only for myself but just for the game of golf. I think there’s a lot of stuff going on at the moment that doesn’t need to be going on, especially in the media. I think it’s definitely wound up a little bit too much.”
Whether it will admit it or not, the LIV contingent will be its own sidebar all week. The 18 secessionists represent about 20 percent of the field. Between Dustin Johnson (2020), Patrick Reed (2018), Segio Garcia (2017), Bubba Watson (2014 and 2012), Charl Schwartzel (2011) and Phil Mickelson (2010, 2006 and 2004), they account for nine Masters titles over the last 19 years.
Smith, the 29-year-old Australian, may be in the thick of it come the weekend. But in a game that is an ever-evolving series of variables, he will face more than most. To break some ice during his first few hours on the grounds seemed a relief.
“I just think there’s too much rubbish going on, basically,” he said. “For me, like I said out there, I spent an hour out there and seen lots of familiar faces, lots of smiles and hugs and it’s been nice. I don’t think there’s any kind of hatred going on between the players. We are all happy where we are and I’m just as happy for the guys winning out on the PGA Tour as I am for the LIV golfers, as well.”
The Masters is hardly a place for the tormented player to reconnect with his game. Smith hasn’t been able to identify his troubles because they keep shifting but there may not be another course where he has become so comfortable. As for competing in just four events this year, that matched his scheduling last year.
“You know, things are feeling good. They just haven’t quite meshed,” he said. “I feel like I’ve had weeks where I’ve hit the driver really well, which is, you know, a pretty rare thing for me. And then you know, haven’t had the best short game week and then other weeks, you’ve had a really good short game week and you’ve missed a few fairways.
“It’s just about putting all that stuff together and like I said before, I feel like this is a place where it kind of comes pretty naturally for me. But yeah, we’ll just kind of see how it goes.”
Smith has brought two sets of clothes for the week, one bearing LIV logos and another without them, should the Masters hierarchy object. He didn’t sound quite as adamant as LIV CEO Greg Norman last week, when he envisioned a host of LIV players surrounding the 18th green Sunday to celebrate one of their own win. But he acknowledged the stakes have changed.
“I think it’s just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we need to be up there,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of chatter about these guys don’t play real golf; these guys don’t play real golf courses. For sure, I’ll be the first one to say, the fields aren’t as strong. I’m the first one to say that.
“But we’ve still got a lot of guys up there that can play some really serious golf and we compete against each other hard week-in and week-out and we’re trying to do the same things that we did six months ago.”
Will Cam Smith be one of them come them weekend?
“This is my happy place,” he said, “and I love being here.”
About the Author
