Cameron Smith says the greatest year of his career was built on an uncluttered mind and the Open Championship winner wants to tap back into that clarity in his bid for an elusive Masters win.
It’s been three years since Smith stunned the golf world with a career-defining season. In 2022, the Brisbane product won the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii with a record score, the Players Championship and the Open Championship at St Andrews when he came from four shots back with a 64, a month before joining LIV Golf and winning its Chicago stop and a third Australian PGA Title at the end of 2022.
That year, Smith also played in the final group at Augusta with Scottie Scheffler at Augusta but faded to a T-3.
As he reflects on how to recapture his 2022 winning instincts, Smith says it’s simple. It’s just the execution that he is trying to nail down.
“I think back to 2022 particularly because it was probably the best year of my career, and I really wasn’t thinking anything, to be honest,” Smith said. “You just go out there and play golf. This place [Augusta] kind of brings that out in me because you forget about your swing and you just want hit the shot at hand. You get some shots out here you don’t really get anywhere else.
“As much as you strive to have a good technique and be the best at everything, sometimes letting go and just playing [the art of] golf is kind of the best option and that’s what I’m looking forward to most about this week.”
Smith has five top-10s from eight Masters starts, including a best result of T-2 at the 2020 November (COVID-19) Masters. That year, he became the first player in Masters history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s. The 31-year-old was also T-6 at Augusta last year.
“[Augusta] is such a cool spot, it’s hard to describe,” Smith said of Augusta National. “You get out of the car and it just feels like a different world. Having some good [results] here in the past is nice, it eases you into the week. So, as many nerves as there will be on Thursday, it’s nice knowing you’ve been here and you’ve done it before. Hopefully I can go a few better this year and get it done.”
In 2025 on LIV Golf, Smith’s form has not been up to his usual standards after a solid Australian summer to end 2024. Smith went the first three months of 2025 without a top-10 worldwide until a T-9 at last week’s brutal test of golf – Doral’s Blue Monster course for LIV Miami. All three rounds at the beastly layout yielded a scoring average of at least two-over-par, with two of the three rounds almost playing three shots over par.
“It was a really good test; [Doral] really switches you on mentally and you can’t really let up [lose your golfing concentration], and it’s a very similar thing this week,” Smith said. “It was nice committing to some swings and hitting some difficult shots at Doral. think it was a good test last week, but it was brutal.”
Smith is one of five Australians in the field at the 89th Masters, including 2013 champion Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Jason Day and Cameron Davis.
