Cam Smith Headed to the Pub Too Soon in a Funny End to a Great 2022

The Aussie didn't make it to Sunday at his national open, but that was one of his very few on-course missteps this year.

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Cam Smith missed what was a first-ever 54-hole cut at the Australian Open—mostly because he didn’t believe he would make the 36-hole cut.

Smith, the reigning British Open champion, was at even par through 36 holes and believed that would not be enough to make it to the weekend rounds at Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

“I was pretty quick to get to the pub (following the second round) and I was a probably few too many beers deep," he said. “Then I realized we had an early tee time, so I had to get back on the waters for the rest of the night."

Smith shot 69, but it was two strokes too many. The Australian Open—which featured the women’s event as well in separate tournaments—instituted a 54-hole cut to just 30 players for the final round.

It was a disappointment for Smith, who won the Australian PGA Championship a week earlier in this return home after three years. But it could not take away from an amazing year that saw him win the Players Championship and the Open at St. Andrews in a five-victory season that also saw him win the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the LIV Golf Chicago event.

Smith said afterward he’s looking forward to some time off and spending the holidays with family. “It’s been a busy 12 months," he said.

He is not expected to play again until the Saudi International event the first week in February. The Asian Tour tournament is at the same course in Jeddah where LIV Golf played the seventh of eight events.

There are then expected to be three LIV events prior to the Masters, where he finished third this year. How prepared he is for the year’s first major will be fascinating to see play out as a majority of his peers who remained on the PGA Tour will be honing their games in a series of “elevated" events, with five of them coming in an eight-week period prior to the Masters.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good blueprint now," Smith said of he and his team. “I have a tendency to get a little bit lazy at times. So I’ll probably spend a lot of time in the gym over the next month and try to get my body ready. I think I need to do the same things (as in 2022) but do them better and probably a little bit more often. I’m really looking forward to what I can do next year. I think it will be exciting."