Australia’s top-ranked golf star Cameron Smith has given a refreshingly honest reaction to his “upsetting” early exit from last week’s Australian PGA Championship.
In his previous outing only a fortnight before the Australian PGA, Smith was in contention to win the Hong Kong Open, before eventually finishing second – a shot behind winner Ben Campbell.
“It’s a silly game sometimes, to be honest,” he told media in Sydney on Wednesday.
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“A couple of weeks ago I was competing to win the Hong Kong Open and I thought I was playing pretty decent golf, and a couple of weeks later it was at the other end of the spectrum.
“It’s pretty weird how it can change that quickly … it’s a crazy game sometimes.
“Just as you think you’ve got it, you don’t, and then sometimes when you think you don’t have it, you’re finishing in the top five or top 10.
“So it’s a crazy game.”
Despite his poor performance at Royal Queensland, Smith believes there is “no reason” he won’t be competitive this weekend, having spent a significant chunk of his off days on the range with coach Grant Field.
He said his issues had to do with his arms losing sync with each other at the top of the backswing. He referred to it as a “chicken wing”.
“The work last weekend and the beginning of this week has just been trying to get the arms and the body to kind of match,” he said.
“(Tuesday) was definitely a step forward but (Wednesday) I think in the conditions and how the golf course sets up, I felt pretty confident out there, especially towards the end.
“There’s no reason why I can’t go out there and be competitive this week.”
Smith said while his confidence might take a few holes to return, the key to a good first-round score would be commitment and trusting his own game.
“I’ve done the work now … the game’s definitely feeling better than it did last week, I just need to go out there (Thursday) and really commit to what I’m doing,” he said.
“It’s easy to break back into those habits, so going out there, committing and hitting a few good shots, I think that confidence will build as the week goes on.
“I wouldn’t say my confidence is at 100 per cent, but there’s no reason I can’t go out there and be competitive – it only takes a few good shots and a few good feels and all of a sudden you’re looking at yourself at the top of the leaderboard.”
HOW TO WATCH THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
The Australian Open will be broadcast live and free on Nine’s channels and 9Now over the four days.
Coverage begins at midday each day.
Watch the 2023 Australian Open golf live and free from November 30 on Nine and 9Now.
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN?
The Australian Open will be held at both The Australian Golf Club and The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney’s east on Thursday, November 30 and Friday, December 1.
The Australian will be the sole course in play on Saturday and Sunday.
Play begins at 7am (AEDT) each day. The last group – likely featuring the winner – should finish at about 5pm on Sunday.
HOW DOES THE TWO-COURSE SYSTEM WORK?
The Australian Open utilises two golf courses concurrently over the first two days because of the number of players in action.
The men’s and women’s tournaments running concurrently – as well as the All Abilities – makes the total field size too big for one course to host.
When the second round concludes on Friday afternoon and the men’s and women’s draws are cut in half, both tournaments will play only at The Australian on Saturday and Sunday.
Ticket holders can access both courses on Thursday and Friday, and can move between the two with relative ease given their close proximity.
The groups that play at The Lakes on Thursday will then play at The Australian on Friday, and vice versa. So players who make the cut will play three rounds at The Australian in total.
The All Abilities groups only play at The Australian.
PRIZE MONEY FOR THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
The Australian Open is worth a total $1.7 million for both the men’s and women’s draws.
The winner in each gender will receive $270,000, runner-up will get $179,500, third $101,099, and decreasing gradually to $2950 for 70th place.
KEY PLAYERS AT THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
All eyes were on Cameron Smith ahead of the two Australian majors this month, after he came home and won last year’s PGA Championship in Brisbane.
But after bombing out of Royal Queensland with a poor first round and a shocking second round, Smith is desperate to make amends and be in the finish in Sydney this week.
He is one of a number of Aussies in contention to win the men’s title. Min Woo Lee has been installed as favourite, though, after his PGA triumph on Sunday.
Hot on their heels are countrymen Adam Scott – who last year was run down by Adrian Meronk to narrowly miss winning the Open – and fellow veteran Marc Leishman.
Meronk returns to Sydney in the hope of emulating his win at the 2022 Open, and joins Chilean star Joaquin Niemann as the leading international contenders.
In the women’s draw, Lee’s older sister Minjee is the raging favourite to win, after she won her third Greg Norman Medal last week.
Veteran and former world No.1 Jiyai Shin looms as a main danger, as does Aussie star Hannah Green and young countrywoman Grace Kim.
ODDS FOR THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Via Sportsbet, correct as of Wednesday November 29
Men’s winner
$6 Min Woo Lee
$7.50 Cameron Smith
$8.50 Cameron Davis
$13 Adam Scott, Joaquin Niemann
$15 Marc Leishman
$21 Adrian Meronk, Lucas Herbert
Women’s winner
$3.20 Minjee Lee
$6 Jiyai Shin
$8.50 Hannah Green
$16 Ashleigh Buhai, Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou
$17 Jenny Shin
$19 Gabriela Ruffels
TEE TIMES FOR ROUND ONE
*Women’s groups are italicised, All Abilities are italicised and bold, (a) denotes amateur
All times in AEDT
At The Australian Golf Club, Thursday November 30
1st tee
7am – John Lyras, Blake Windred, Laurie Canter
7.11am – Ayaka Sugihara, Wenyung Keh, Lion Higo (a)
7.22am – Brett Coletta, Aaron Pike, Frank Kennedy
7.33am – Heather Lin, Munchin Keh, Mizuki Hashimoto (a)
7.44am – Andrew Dodt, Cameron John, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia
7.55am – Jordan Zunic, Kerry Mountcastle, Pierre Pineau
8.06am – Siyi Keh, Sock Hwee Koh, Jazy Roberts (a)
8.17am – Kade McBride, Lawry Flynn, Jordan Gumberg
8.28am – Kristalle Blum, Stef Hall, Annika Rathbone (a)
8.39am – Phillip Katich, James Marchesani, Phoenix Campbell (a)
8.50am – Chris Crabtree, Sungjin Yeo, Darcy Brereton
12pm – Adrian Meronk, Adam Scott, Matt Jones
12.11pm – Hannah Green, Grace Kim, Ashleigh Buhai
12.22pm – Aaron Baddeley, Lucas Herbert, Joaquin Niemann
12.33pm – Cassie Porter, Jenny Shin, Justice Bosio (a)
12.44pm – Rafa Carbrera Bello, Connor Syme, Daniel Hillier
12.55pm – Jhonattan Vega, Calum Hill, David Micheluzzi
1.06pm – Whitney Hillier, Amy Taylor, Cara Gorlei
1.17pm – Richard Mansell, Geoff Ogilvy, Alex Fitzpatrick
1.28pm – Tom Mckibbin, Jeffrey Guan, Daniel Gale
1.39pm – Brendan Lawlor, Kipp Popert (a), Lachlan Wood
1.50pm – Kurtis Barkley (a), Geoffrey Nicholas, Tommaso Perrino
10th tee
7.05am – Grant Forrest, Jake McLeod, Brett Rumford
7.16am – Lejan Lewthwaite, Pramphun Kultida, Rhianna Lewis
7.27am – Michael Hendry, Soren Kjeldsen, Nick Hardy
7.38am – Sukapan Budsabakorn, Amelia Mehmet-Grohn, Katelyn Must
7.49am – David Horsey, Andrew Martin, Jarryd Felton
8am – Kazuma Kobori, Dimitrios Papadatos, Rico Hoey
8.11am – Aunchisa Utama, Elmay Viking, Danielle Vasquez
8.22am – Taichi Kho, Matthew Griffin, Rhein Gibson
8.33am – Kathryn Norris, Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong, Hannah Reeves (a)
8.44am – Andre Lautee, Taishi Moto (a), Shae Wools-Cobb
8.55am – William Bayliss, Corey Lamb, Rhys Thomas
12.05pm – Derek Ackerman, Simon Hawkes, Marc Hammer
12.16pm – Amy Chu, Casey Wild, Grace Lennon
12.27pm – Nathan Barbieri, Michael Sim, Richard McEvoy
12.38pm – Soo Jin Lee, Kono Matsumoto, Jessica Boyce
12.49am – Josh Younger, Jediah Morgan, John Axelsen
1pm – Austin Bautista, Oliver Farr, Julian Suri
1.11pm – Sarah Yamaki Branch, Pranavi Urs, Celina Yuan
1.22pm – Christopher Wood, Matthew Millar, Lars van Meijel
1.33pm – Josh Geary, Zach Murray, Steven Brown
1.44pm – Chris Biggins (a), Cameron Pollard (a), Juan Postigo (a)
1.55pm – Johan Kammerstad (a), Stephen Prior (a), Natascha Tennent (a)
At The Lakes Golf Club, Thursday November 30
1st tee
7am – Jack Munro, Yuto Katsuragawa, Conor Purcell
7.11am – Eila Galitsky (a), Chizuru Ueda, Thalia Martin
7.22am – Alexander Levy, Justin Warren, Sam Brazel
7.33am – Lana Aswadi, Steffanie Vogel, Ella Scaysbrook (a)
7.44am – Hayden Hopewell, Joel Moscatel, Haydn Barron
7.55am – Sarah Oh, Godiva Kim (a), Tamara Johns
8.06am – Nicolo Galletti, Lincoln Tighe, Lachlan Barker
8.17am – Braden Becker, Elvis Smylie, Jay Mackenzie
8.28am – Emma Ash, Darcy Habgood, Rachel Lee (a)
8.39am – Chang Gi Lee, Peter Wilson, Zack Swanwick (a)
8.50am – Michael Pearce, Connor McDade (a), Jak Carter
12pm – John Senden, Travis Smyth, Gunner Wiebe
12.11pm – Nayeon Eum, Sasikarn Somboonsup, Holly Victoria Halim (a)
12.22pm – Nicolas Colsaerts, Peter Lonard, Ben Eccles
12.33pm – Stephanie Na, Kylie Henry, Sarah Hammett (a)
12.44pm – Connor McKinney, Louis Dobbelaar, John Catlin
12.55pm – Lukas Nemecz, Kazuki Higa, Tom Power Horan
1.06pm – Momoka Kobori, Michele Thomson, Caitlin Price (a)
1.17pm – Matias Sanchez, Sam Jones, Ben Wharton
1.28pm – Anthony Choat, Andrew Kelly, Andrew Campbell
10th tee
7.05am – Min Woo Lee, Cameron Smith, Rikuya Hoshino
7.16am – Minjee Lee, Gabriela Ruffels, Stephanie Kyriacou
7.27am – Marc Leishman, Cameron Davis, Robert MacIntyre
7.38am – Jiyai Shin, Karis Davidson, Sarah Kemp
7.49am – Patrick Rodgers, Ryo Hisatsune, Harrison Crowe
8am – Amy Boulden, Isabella Deilert, Ann Jang (a)
8.11am – Sean Crocker, Michael Block, Jason Scrivener
8.22am – Eddie Pepperell, Anthony Quayle, Ben Campbell
8.33am – Paige Stubbs, Bree Arthur, Danielle Peers
8.44am – Jasper Stubbs (a), Mark Power, Jack Buchanan
8.55am – Kit Bittle, Toby Walker, Joshua Greer
12.05pm – Angel Ayora, Jack Murdoch, Adam Bland
12.16pm – Kelsey Bennett, Stephanie Bunque, Claire Shin
12.27pm – Haraldur Magnus, Josh Armstrong, Denzel Ieremia
12.38pm – Sarah Jane Smith, Kirsten Rudgeley, Jeneath Wong (a)
12.49pm – Pietro Bovari, Kyle Michel, Jack Thompson
1pm – Nick Voke, Scott Strange, Brady Watt
1.11pm – Hanee Song, Cholcheva Wongras, Jordan O’Brien
1.22pm – Luke Toomey, Brett Rankin, Ben Ferguson
1.33pm – Tim Hart, Darren Beck, Jake Hughes