Cameron Smith

Australian Cameron Smith (* August 18, 1993 in Brisbane) can look back on an extremely successful 2022. He won the Open Championship and five other tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the Players Championship.

As a two-year-old, Smith began playing at Wantima Country Club, a small golf course in the northern suburbs of Brisbane where his father, a full-time printer, was the club captain. Smith's mother, Sharon, worked at the local department store.

Professional since 2013

Cameron Smith turned pro in 2013, playing on the PGA Tour of Australasia. He finished second at the 2015 Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship and the 2016 Emirates Australian Open.

In 2014, he competed on the Asian Tour, finishing in the top 10 seven times and placing 5th in the Order of Merit. His best result was a shared second place at the 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters.

First PGA event

Smith's first PGA Tour event was the CIMB Classic in October 2014, where he finished 5th.

In April 2015, Smith finished 15th at the RBC Heritage. After qualifying for the 2015 US Open, his top-4 finish earned him an invitation to the 2016 Masters Tournament.

Temporary PGA Membership

The finish also earned Smith a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.

Smith earned his 2015-16 PGA Tour card by earning enough as a non-member to finish in the top 125 of the money standings: his best three events would have been enough. In 2016, Smith finished 157th on the FedEx points list.

Good performance at the Web.com Tour Finals

His performance at the Web.com Tour Finals, where he finished second at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, allowed him to return to the PGA Tour for 2017.

In May 2017, Smith teamed with Jonas Blixt to win 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, defeating Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner in a playoff. It was Smith's first career PGA Tour victory.

Two top-10 finishes

He had two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2017, placing 6th at the Valero Texas Open and 7th at the Wyndham Championship and finishing 46th in the FedEx Cup standings. He started the new PGA Tour season with a shared 5th place finish at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and finished third at the CJ Cup in South Korea at the end of 2017.

Smith continued his good form by finishing fourth at the Emirates Australian Open and then winning the Australian Open PGA Championship the following week, beating Jordan Zunic in a playoff.

Title defense

In December 2018, Smith defended his title at the Australian PGA Championship. The following December, Smith played on the international team in the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16-14.

In January 2020, Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff against Brendan Steele; his first individual victory on the PGA Tour. In April 2021, Smith won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the second time. This time he was partnered by fellow countryman Marc Leishman. The duo won in a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwarzel.

Qualification for Olympics 2020

Smith qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and competed in the men's competition in July/August 2021. He finished the four rounds 14 under par to finish tenth. Although he played a 66 in both the third and fourth rounds, he was already out of medal contention.

In January 2022, Smith won the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii. Smith shot a PGA Tour record 34-under par to win by one stroke over world No. 1 Jon Rahm. His 34-under par beat the previous mark of 31-under par set by Ernie Els at the same tournament in 2003.

Problems due to hip injury

In March, Smith won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, becoming the fifth Australian to win the tournament. In July, Smith won his first major championship, the 150th Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

During the FedEx Cup Playoffs in August, he battled a hip injury and did not participate in the second event, the BMW Championship. At the end of the PGA Tour season, he won the PGA Player of the Year award.

No longer on the PGA Tour

At the end of August, after the Tour Championship, it was announced that Smith had joined LIV Golf and would therefore no longer play on the PGA Tour. The move had been speculated about since The Open, with him repeatedly refusing to confirm or deny the rumors.

Smith finished in a tie for 4th place in his first LIV start in Boston, with Dustin Johnson winning the 3-man playoff.

$5 million in prize money in four starts.

He won in his second start, posting rounds of 66, 68 and 69 to finish at 13-under par, three shots clear of previous winners Dustin Johnson and Peter Uihlein.

Smith managed to earn more than $5 million in prize money in his 4 starts on LIV Golf.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Previous article in the series: William Ben Hogan

Next article in the series: Patrick Cantlay