It would have surprised had he said otherwise, but Cameron Smith has given a strong indication that, following the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland, he will take on Rory McIlroy at Royal Melbourne in December's Australian Open. Smith further revealed that he will likely be home in October and would love to compete in the NSW Open at The Vintage and the Queensland PGA at Nudgee.
“I'm still kind of thinking about it a little bit,” Smith told Golf Australia magazine. "I'm going to bring my wife and [six-month-old son] Remy down, probably in October at some point
“I don't know how stuff is going to go. [But] I would love to do it again. It was really great fun last year.
"It could be a little bit harder this year. But, yeah, it’s definitely still in the back of my mind … it's something that I definitely want to do again.”
As for the Australian Open, it was less than 12 months ago that Smith was scathing of Australia’s most prestigious golf event, accusing Golf Australia, the governing body, of using heavy rain as an excuse for softer-than-usual conditions ag the Open's Sandbelt hosts, Victoria and Kingston Heath.
Along with PGA of Australia chair Ian Baker-Finch’s critique that the dual-gender nature of the Australian Opens meant "both events are diminished a little bit by holding them together", Golf Australia’s hand was effectively forced, and today the men’s and women’s national titles are standalone events with their own logos.
The Australian men's Open is now back at Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1991.
Smith said that given the quality of the venue, it is likely he will be in Melbourne come December.
“I think I'm going to make it down there - I mean, it would be hard not to at Royal Melbourne,” Smith said.
“It seems like the tournament itself is getting back to the Australian Open of old. You hear the old boys talk about how it used to be the fifth major, and it kind of lost all that for a little bit there.
“So, yeah, I can't wait to make this tournament the best it can be. And we'll see what comes with it, I guess, in December.”
Of his own form in 2025, which includes a best of tied-fifth and an overall placing of 18th in the limited-field LIV Golf league - as well as missing the cut in all four major championships – Smith said that "it's been a really shitty season, to be honest with you.”
“At the end of last year, 2024, it definitely wasn't my best stuff. But I felt like it was right there. I came home, played well at the PGA and was feeling quite nice about my game," Smith said.
“Then did a lot of work in the off-season, and probably my expectation of myself was higher than it's ever been, which may have played into it a little bit. But I was feeling actually really confident at the start of the year.
“Then got off to a really crappy start and lost a lot of confidence, particularly with my shorter irons. Just wasn't able to make enough birdies, wasn't hitting it close enough.
"So I've been working through that. And the game actually doesn't feel too bad. It's just been [poor in competition], and it sucks, to be honest. You don't do all the work and put in the yards for results like that."
In 2022, when Smith was striding around St Andrews Old Course on his way to a final round 64 to win the 150th Open Championship, he clearly appeared "in the zone". His putter was hot, his body language strong. He appeared nerveless, wafting the ball over St Andrews' famous, bulbous swales.
Asked if he has tried to recapture the "muscle memory", body language and good feels of that famous win, Smith revealed that he had "already watched it a couple of times".
“I guess you’re looking for stuff and maybe some stuff that you've never really thought about before,” Smith said.
"I've watched that win and a couple of different wins over the past couple of months trying to see what I was doing, even how I walk, stuff like that.
"That’s where I want to get back to. And I feel like it's not too far away.
"I just need to keep plugging away.”
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