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Cameron Smith has set a new goal to turn around a “frustrating” year and finish it on a high – win the BMW Australian PGA in his backyard of Brisbane once again but this time with his new baby boy watching on from the gallery.
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Smith arrived in his hometown of Brisbane from the US several weeks ago after a golf year that saw him miss the cut in all four majors and two Official World Golf Rankings events, including last week’s Asian Tour International Series event in Saudi Arabia.
Off the course, life couldn’t be better with Smith and his wife welcoming their first child in April.
The disappointing tournament results, though, have lit a fire in the belly of a truly world-class player who knows his resume includes a Players Championship, a breakthrough major at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, three LIV Golf titles and three Australian PGAs. The last one came at the end of a career-defining 2022 season here at Royal Queensland with family and friends in the gallery.
Now, that family has grown – former world No.2 Smith brought his son Remy to Australia for the first time on this trip. Smith’s eyes lit up when reminded that if he were to win a fourth Joe Kirkwood Cup this week (after wins in 2017, ’18 and ’22), it would be his first trophy with his baby boy in attendance.
“Yeah that would be cool; I haven’t really thought about that because I’ve been playing like c–p but that would be awesome and maybe that’s a good thing to think about and get me amped up for this week,” Smith told Australian Golf Digest on Monday.
Smith has had some decent play this year; he registered five top-10 results on the LIV Golf circuit including the UK leg where he drove the ball beautifully and struck his irons pure only for his wedges to show rust. But his play in tournaments with world ranking points, particularly the four majors, were tough to swallow for a player with a runner-up and numerous top-five results at Augusta National, a claret jug victory and career top-10s at the US open and PGA.
Smith just hasn’t been able to fire on all cylinders this year. He hopes the good vibes of being home in Australia trigger a special fortnight.
“I’m looking forward to [the Australian PGA and Open],” Smith said of the two Australian majors on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia calendar. “I feel like the game’s in a good enough spot to compete. Obviously, Royal Queensland is a course that I love and have played well at. I think just being at home brings that [playfulness] back a little bit as well, and obviously having success here at ‘RQ’ probably helps. I’m trying to go out there and not worry about it so much.”
Armchair pundits may say Smith needs to win one of the next two events – the PGA and Australian Open, which are co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and boast strong international fields – to remind the game of his pedigree. While that would be nice for the 32-year-old, he pushes back that he “needs” to do anything. He has never approached professional golf that way, even in his best years.
The Australian PGA has a host of big names at Royal Queensland such as English star Marco Penge, his fellow PGA Tour 2026 member Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, as well as Australian big guns Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and LIV Golf Miami winner Marc Leishman. Next week, the Australian Open will see Masters champion Rory McIlroy headline a star-studded field.
“I’ve never really played with expectations, so, I don’t think there’s anything that I really need to do,” Smith said. “I think what I need to do is prepare well and and then just forget about it, to be honest. I’ve got good memories from last year [to also use as fuel].”
Last year, Smith was in the final group at a rain-shortened, 54-hole Australian PGA but finished second to a barnstorming Elvis Smylie.
“That was a good tournament; we got quite lucky to even finish the tournament, to be fair, with the weather,” Smith said. “But it’s always a good week here in Brissie and I’ve always loved this place, so hopefully I can go out and put on a great performance.”
