[Photo: Getty Images]
After taking some time to lick his wounds, Cameron Smith said on Wednesday he can see a healthy silver lining to a heartbreaking close call at the recent Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
Smith, the 2022 Open champion at St Andrews, missed a short putt to take the Australian Open into a playoff after coming from behind to share the lead into the 72nd hole with Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. But the Denmark golfer made a sublime par save from treacherous rough to hoist the Stonehaven Cup in regulation play, after Smith made bogey to finish second.
Former world No.2 Smith had started the final day two shots off the pace and surged into a share of the pace during a thrilling final day where he and Neergaard-Petersen traded the lead several times. After missing all seven cuts prior to the Australian Open at events outside LIV that offer Official World Golf Ranking points in 2025 – including in the four majors – Smith said he was relieved to end a frustrating year on the course with at least a chance to win a significant tournament.
“Yeah, it was good,” Smith said at Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide, minutes from a new Greg Norman-designed golf course that will eventually host LIV Golf Adelaide.
“It was just good to get back to playing good golf; I felt I’d been knocking on the door, although the results hadn’t really been there. I felt a little bit defeated, with how the season had gone, and it was nice to finish on a good one.”
The Australian Open means a great deal to the Queenslander, who has three Australian PGA titles but hasn’t yet lifted the Stonehaven Cup. The 121-year-old tournament awards a trophy Smith wants most outside of a second major victory, and his close Australian Open calls include losing in a playoff to Jordan Spieth at Royal Sydney in 2016. The 2025 edition was his second runner-up, while he was fourth in 2017.
On Wednesday – moments before watching the first day at the Adelaide Test of the 2025 Ashes series –Smith spoke for the first time about his emotional second placing at Royal Melbourne.
“I wish it had it gone a different way there at the end, but nonetheless, the reflection has been all positive and it’s nice to see what I’m doing is actually paying off,” Smith, 32, said. “You know, that was kind of the, I guess, the thing for so long was, Am I doing the right stuff? It was nice to see everything come together and have a good week [in Melbourne].”
On the 72nd hole at Royal Melbourne’s Composite course, Smith played a smart approach shot to the middle of the green when Neergaard-Petersen appeared to have lost his chance at winning when he flared his own iron approach short of some greenside bunkers. The ball settled in a thick native grass area. Smith’s approach had bounced further toward the back of the green than he wanted and he faced a brutally long birdie putt that settled five feet from the hole.
Smith’s ensuing par putt was needed to force a playoff but he missed left and was visibly devastated. Neergaard-Petersen said that day he felt for Smith.
“Absolutely; we’ve all been there,” Neergaard-Petersen said. “I know this is one of events that are very big for him, so obviously I feel him in that way. I was nowhere [out of position] on 18. I had nothing from the right and somehow some way I managed to get it up and down. But [Smith] a class act and it was great to be out there with him.”
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