You know what 2022 Open champion Cam Smith is like as a player, but what’s the Ripper GC skipper like as a new dad?
It’s the circle of life. The day an elite golfer – a major champion who was introduced to the game by his father – puts a golf club in his child’s hand and watches as a lifelong passion transfers onto the next generation.
Former Open champion Cameron Smith is certainly dreaming of that day, after he and wife Shanel welcomed baby boy Remy into the world earlier this year. But Smith won’t force that exciting moment. He’s going to sit back and see if the game grips his boy like it did for him in the late 1990s at Wantima Country Club in Brisbane’s northern suburbs, where his scratch-marker old man, Des, fashioned a handy PVC pipe wide enough to fit a few cut-down clubs on the side of his bag.
“I’ll lead him to water, but you can’t make him drink at the end of the day,” Smith tells Australian Golf Digest ahead of his debut Father’s Day as a dad. “I’ll be putting a club in his hands, for sure, but I won’t force him to try to be great or to practice long hours. If he wants to, that’ll be amazing, but I’ll support whatever he wants to do.”
Golf, for Smith, has always been more than a career. It was the easiest way to enjoy one-on-one time with his idol, Des. He didn’t set out for golf to put him on a path to the professional game where he became world No.2, a winner of the claret jug at St Andrews and a multiple champion across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf League.
That’s not what Des intended. And it’s not what Smith will try to do for his young boy. Admittedly, he would love it if Remy took up the game, but more for the life skills than anything.
“I want him to play golf because of all the things it brings you,” Smith says. “I think it’s the greatest sport ever. There’s manners and etiquette, and patience. I think there’s so many good things that come from golf, especially spending time with your family.”
With an upbringing in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where Smith and his wife are based, in addition to plenty of time in Queensland, there’s a high chance Remy will indeed carry on the family love of golf.
“It’ll be a cool [upbringing],” Smith says. “I think there’s so many good things about America and so many good things about Australia. At least through his younger years, I think we’ll spend a fair bit of time in Australia. I think he’ll love Australia.”
But there also could be any number of sports that catch Remy’s eye, and Smith will embrace all of them. For golfers, there’s also no harm in developing a well-rounded athletic upbringing when it comes to hand-eye co-ordination, timing and nurturing the desire to compete. Smith grew up playing rugby league, cricket and other sports before eventually settling on golf.
“Growing up in Brisbane, I was very spoiled for sports,” Smith recalls. “I played just about anything with a bat or a ball. I think that’s really important to why I’ve been good at golf. Being around a team and working hard and performing for other people is also really important.”
STROKES GAINED: PERSPECTIVE
Smith never thought he’d trade the claret jug for clarity, but he’s experienced a rite of passage all great golfers feel when they become a parent – trophies on the course still loom large, but life off the course takes on so much more meaning.
It’s no secret that it’s been a tough year, at least professionally, for Smith. He missed the cut in every major in 2025, the first time in his career when making all four starts. They were four bitter pills to swallow for a golfer seemingly built for the majors. In addition to his Open win, Smith owns top-10s in the other three championships including on five occasions at the Masters.
As strong as the disappointment is, it dissipates quickly for Smith knowing he and his wife have a healthy baby who Smith, at least on one occasion, has dressed in a miniature Brisbane Broncos jersey.
Sure, Smith would have rather collected career major No.2 this year with Remy and mum watching on from the gallery, but he strongly believes that day will come. It didn’t have to coincide with the first year of parenting. After all, golf is a difficult game to stay at the top at the best of times, let alone in the adjustment period of becoming a father.
“I feel I’ve always had a good sense of perspective, but becoming a dad has definitely changed all that,” Smith says. “Really, all I want now is to have a happy, healthy son rather than making as many birdies as I can on the golf course. Of course, I still want to do that and to win often. I’m still fired up competitively once I’m inside the ropes, but bad rounds probably don’t ruin my day as much as they used to.”
There have been some golf highlights in 2025, although not to his deserved high standards. Smith enjoyed top-10 results on LIV Golf at its Miami, Mexico City, Korea, Andalucia (Spain) and UK stops. But there was also plenty of inconsistency.
Smith’s early exit from Royal Portrush ensured he missed five major cuts on the trot going back to the 2024 Open at Royal Troon. He’s had three top-10s at majors since his claret jug victory, but none at the links major. The disappointment, though, has only strengthened his resolve.
“It definitely sucks to play bad at any time, but particularly in tournaments that probably mean a little bit more than others,” Smith says. “I think it’s more of a mental obstacle than actual technique. I feel like I’ve been doing so much technique work that we’ve almost forgotten [that the most important aspect is] to go out and just play the game and score. But yes, the major results have hurt.”
Anecdotally, Smith is swinging the club as well as ever. His driving – at difficult courses like Spain’s narrow Valderrama layout and England’s demanding JCB Golf & Country Club – has looked elite. His iron play has been sharp, and his putting has been solid without showing all of the promise of previous years. Smith’s short game, by his own admission, needs work to rekindle his usually sublime precision from 100 metres and in.
He doesn’t shy away from the truth but is perplexed that his swing feels better than it has in a long time.
“The frustrating thing is [in practice rounds, on the range and even in tournament rounds], my swing feels the best it’s ever felt,” he says. “To go out there and perform [poorly] isn’t something I want to do, and it’s something I shouldn’t do.”
But as a father now, he’s determined to set an example of grinding through tough stretches to get to the purple patches.
“I’ve been motivated all year to try to get a result, and maybe that’s part of the problem – I feel like I’ve done everything right, and not really got much out of it,” Smith says. “So, I’ve had a change in attitude recently and I’ve been focusing on the mental side. The past six weeks have been pretty good, and it definitely feels like I’m turning a corner.”
Smith is approaching practice and preparation with a similar tenacity to that of his career-defining season of 2022, when he won three of his six PGA Tour titles, including the Players Championship and the 150th Open before joining LIV Golf. He’s won three times since on LIV. As a father, Smith simply needs to map out each day during off-weeks at home in Florida better than in the past.
“It’s just time. Obviously, you want to hang out with your child and it’s been a change, but I don’t feel like I practise any less these days,” Smith says. “Maybe I do because I want to be there for him. It’s definitely a different lifestyle, and you have to plan out your day. I think that’s the biggest thing for me. Before becoming a dad, I played practice sessions by ear or by the weather and I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Nowadays, it’s a case of, I’ll go and practise while he’s having a nap.
“My motivation hasn’t changed, I don’t think, from the past, but it’s different now in that I do dream of winning something down the track that he’ll be old enough to remember. That would be amazing. I’m definitely putting in the work to try to do that. I just need to do it.”
Smith, now 32, is in his prime years. He’s also longer off the tee than at any point in his career. As his son grows up, practice and tournament preparation will constantly evolve. Smith knows that. He just needs to take advantage when he’s playing well.
“[Remy] is obviously quite young at the moment, so I think as he grows up, and that time becomes more important and he wants me to go and play outside, I think it’ll require more juggling.”
2025? IT’S ONLY THE SECOND HALF
To reference the frequently used saying in Smith’s beloved game of rugby league, Queenslanders operate best late in the second half with their backs against the wall – or so they like to remind New South Wales. But it’s exactly how Smith feels about the end of the 2025 season, which will include a couple of international tournaments prior to returning to his homeland for the BMW Australian PGA Championship, held in his backyard of Brisbane at Royal Queensland (November 27-30) and the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne (December 4-7). Smith also intends adding a third Australasian start within his Down Under return.
“There’ll probably be one or two [international starts] before Australia to stay somewhat tournament-ready before the summer of golf,” Smith says, now enjoying his almost five-month offseason from LIV. “There are a few options, but I’m most looking forward to hanging out with Shanel and Remy and spending some time with them.”
Smith captured the PGA’s Joe Kirkwood Cup in 2017, 2018 and 2022. But the Australian Open’s Stonehaven Cup is the trophy he dreams of most outside the four majors. He’s the first to admit an Australian Open crown is one of the biggest holes in his impressive résumé. It’s not for a lack of trying, though. Smith lost in a playoff to three-time major champion Jordan Spieth at Royal Sydney in 2016. He also claimed a fourth at The Australian in 2017 and a tie for 10th at The Lakes a year later.
While the Stonehaven Cup probably couldn’t compare to the elation of winning a second career major, it cannot be overstated how much it would mean to Smith to win an Australian Open on its return to Royal Melbourne after a 34-year absence. Not to mention how 2025 is shaping up to be one of the biggest editions of the 121-year-old tournament with superstar Rory McIlroy’s commitment (for 2025 and 2026) driving record ticket sales. A host of Smith’s fellow Australians, such as 2009 winner Adam Scott, will also tee up on the crown jewel of the Melbourne Sandbelt.
“Every year, it just keeps growing how much I want [to win the Australian Open],” Smith says. “I probably keep putting more pressure on myself, but if the game is in a good spot, there’s no reason I can’t win it. There’s no reason why I can’t finish the year strong.”
Surely, there’d be no better sign-off from 2025 than a potential Australian Open victory. The national championship has a way of springboarding reigning champions back to their prime. Spieth was having trouble closing out golf tournaments in the first couple of years of his career before he captured the 2014 Australian Open. He bottled that confidence and drank from it the next year during his first and second major victories at the Masters and US Open. Then, after a quiet 2016, he won a second Australian Open and only seven months later hoisted the claret jug at Royal Birkdale in 2017 – his third major. McIlroy, too, had struggled in 2013 before defeating the reigning Masters champion and homegrown hero in Scott at Royal Sydney before winning two majors in 2014.
Smith wants that win and its knock-on effect. “My motivation is at an all-time high to get back to where I was, and even better than that,” he says.
Featured Photograph by Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf
