Cam Smith May Be Rounding Into Form Just in Time for Summer

Smith, the 2022 British Open winner, tied for ninth at the PGA Championship on the heels of a playoff loss at the LIV Golf Tulsa event.

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It has been an admittedly slow and disappointing start to the year for Cam Smith, who won the British Open last year but until Sunday had shown very little form in 2023.

There were reasons, of course. After winning the Open, there was considerable speculation concerning his move to LIV Golf. He did that after the FedEx Cup playoffs, lost in his first event in Boston, won his second in Chicago, then added a victory later that year in his native Australia at the Australian PGA.

With a win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Players Championship, it was a phenomenal year that saw him rise as high as No. 2 in the world.

Then came time to enjoy it all and relax. And Smith might have done too much enjoying and relaxing.

His final-round 65 at Oak Hill Country Club on Sunday moved him to a tie for ninth at the PGA Championship. The score matched the lowest of the tournament and suggested that he’s starting to find some form. The week prior, Smith lost in a playoff to Dustin Johnson at LIV’s event in Tulsa.

"It's starting to feel really nice," Smith said. “I think a little bit too much time off with the golf clubs probably has, I guess, kind of delayed how I wanted to start the year.

“Now it's starting to feel really nice. I'm starting to feel confident with those irons, which when I'm playing good golf, that's where I feel like I'm at. If I'm in the fairway and I have an iron in my hand, I really feel like I can be competitive out there, and that's what I'm doing."

Smith missed the cut at the Saudi International in February, his first tournament of 2023. And he didn’t do much in the LIV events until a fourth-place finish in Adelaide. He was a disappointing tied for 34th at the Masters.

He will be playing plenty of golf now. After this week’s LIV event outside of Washington, D.C., he will compete in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, a course he has yet to see.

LIV has events in Spain and London prior to the Open at Royal Liverpool. And since there is a week between the LIV London event and the Open, there will be plenty of time to prepare for his title defense.