Write Cameron Smith off as a Masters contender at your own risk.
Like a derby in Smith’s beloved NRL or in the English Premier League, form goes out the window when there’s a higher meaning to a tournament. For Smith, Augusta National is inspiring enough. He feels he doesn’t need form going into a Masters, as nice and reassuring as it is.
Smith is aware of his inauspicious start to 2025. A T-19 at LIV Golf Singapore was his best result among the LIV’s first four events. It’s hardly the rich vein of form we saw in 2022, when the Queenslander won three PGA Tour events, including a Players Championship and a maiden major at the Open Championship at St Andrews, before he claimed a first LIV win and a third Australian PGA title later that year.
The 31-year-old’s results in 2025 have been mediocre by the former world No.2’s standards, no doubt. But it’s easy to forget he was in with a chance to win the Australian PGA Championship in late November, a DP World Tour event, and the PIF Saudi International in December, which had an elite field and was won by Joaquin Niemann. Smith was at least T-2 in both.
Truth is, there is no exact formula to predict Smith’s chances at the Masters. In 2018, he had only two top-10s on the PGA Tour – he was not really in the thick of contention either – for the first three months of the year but was then in the hunt at Augusta for a T-5 result. In 2019 he was playing better golf, again two top-10s leading in, and made the cut but was nowhere on the leaderboard. For his best ever result, a T-2 in 2020 during the November COVID-19 Masters, he did arrive with an 11th and T-4 in his two starts before Augusta. In 2021, his results were solid and he finished T-10 at Augusta. In 2022, he was in sensational form with wins at Kapalua and the Players and did play his way into the final group with Scottie Scheffler, only to fade to a T-3. There’s no real rhyme or reason to the build-ups in his previous Masters starts.
“Some years I’ve gone in there playing really good golf and and haven’t done too well,” Smith told Australian Golf Digest at LIV Golf Miami. “Other years I’ve gone in not feeling too confident, and then kind of woken something up inside me.”
You might be wondering, why is that? The answer is simple. Smith’s mind is different to most tour pros. He doesn’t produce his best when he’s comfortable with a course that requires him to repeatedly hit driver and wedges or stock 7-irons. It’s when a course asks Smith to tap into the artist within; working the ball both ways with the long irons or shots from inside 100 metres that require different options like low shots, or along the ground, or high with a certain spin. Examples are the excellent layout at Kapalua’s Plantation course, when Smith shot a PGA Tour record 34-under-par to defeat Jon Rahm, TPC Sawgrass during his 2022 Players win or the Old Course at St Andrews where he lifted the claret jug with a record 20-under-par total.
“I’ve always thought that I play my best golf when I’m being really creative, and I think that’s the spark that I kind of need to awaken at the moment,” Smith said. “There’s been a lot of talk within our team about technique and how can we get better, and I feel like the game feels really good and I just need to forget about that stuff and go out there and hit golf shots. And I think that’s what Augusta does for me.”
Technique is still a prerequisite at Augusta National. Masters competitors hope it’s second nature when they tee off. The severe slopes, shelves on the boldly-contoured greens and delicate touch required from inside 100 metres demand excellent technique. Smith did a ton of work with the driver and long irons in the offseason with his long-time coach Grant Field. His short game and putting have always been world-class.
“My game, particularly the long game, feels really nice,’ he said. “Everything feels really nice. This year (on LIV) been a one of those starts where I could have got a lot more out of what I’ve produced. I know it’s not too far away.”
So, how does Smith, who has finished top-10 in five of the eight Masters he’s played, including a T-6 last year, ensure he awakes that intangible quality within that allows him to play well at Augusta regardless of his lead-in?
“I think a lot of that is letting go; when you’re so focused and and working really hard on [technique or a feel], it is kind of hard to let go but I know it’s just a couple of good swings away.”
Smith is one of five Australians at this year’s Masters, including 2013 winner Adam Scott, former world No.1 Jason Day, Cameron Davis and recent Houston Open winner Min Woo Lee. The 89th Masters begins on Thursday (late Thursday evening AEST).
