Cameron Smith was chauffeured in a cart up the steep hill to the clubhouse at Kapalua’s Plantation course, so that the Australian star could prepare for the fourth winner’s press conference of his already brilliant PGA Tour career.
An excited golf reporter leant in and asked Smith, “Wanna know your world ranking now?”
Smith responded, “Yeah, go for it.” The reporter said, “Congrats, mate. You’re in the top 10 now… you’re No.10.”
Smith isn’t a golf nerd. The fact that his 34-under par total at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii earned him the record for the lowest ever score in relation to par on the PGA Tour barely registered with the Queenslander.
But on hearing about his debut in the world’s top 10 golfers, the 28-year-old cracked a smile. “Seriously?” he asked.
The milestone is a reward; both for holding off world No.1 Jon Rahm in the final group at the elite Tournament of Champions today but also for a stellar 18 months of golf.
Last season – the PGA Tour’s elongated ‘Super Season’ – Smith bagged a win, two runner-ups (one of which came at the 2020 Masters) and five other top 10s. This wraparound season, Smith has another win and two other top-10s and it’s only early January.
Smith was tied for the lead going into the final round of the winner’s only Tournament of Champions alongside Rahm. But he edged the ludicrously talented Spaniard by one when it counted, shooting 65 to Rahm’s 66 at Kapalua’s par-73 Plantation course.
Smith was almost speechless after his win. He was still processing the fact he’d just gone toe-to-toe with the world’s best player and come out on top.
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“I mean, he’s the best golfer in the world and there’s many reasons why he is,” Smith said of Rahm, who finished solo second at 33-under, after his victory.
“He flushes it and it seems like he drains every putt he looks at. So, yeah, it was nice to overcome that and I’m going to get a lot of confidence from this. Holding off ‘Jonny’ over the weekend is obviously a massive thing.”
The pay cheque is also massive. You now get $US1,476,000 ($A2,047,000) for winning the PGA Tour’s year-opener on the stunning island of Maui.
It’s the biggest payday of Smith’s career and takes his PGA Tour career earnings up to $US19 million. But the money is not what Smith will take away from Maui. He will hop over to Honolulu for this week’s Sony Open, which he won in 2020, feeling like a different golfer.
“All the guys at the Tournament of Champions have won in the year prior,” Smith said of this event’s only criteria.
“They have all had a really good season, and they all know how to win. So to be able to win against the winners is really cool.”
What Australian golf fans will take out of it was how great it was to be able to watch every single shot of an Australian in contention on the live broadcast of a PGA Tour final round.
When was the last time that happened?
The coverage even showed a heap of Sydneysider Matt Jones, who proved the only way he could possibly play any quicker was to shoot a lower score. He closed with a jaw-dropping 12-under 61 to finish third at 32-under.
When was the last time a player shot 62, 61 on the weekend at a PGA Tour event and only finished third?
The basic answer to both questions is, “It’s been ages.” Or, “It has never happened.”
At least for Smith, he proved no broadcast is going to hand an Australian golfer airtime (nor should they, but some more coverage would be nice). You have to go out and force the cameras to follow you.
They might not have a choice for a while, based Smith’s comments before his press conference.
“I think I might have to reset, now,” he told that reporter. “Try and get to No.1.”
