Placing out on the 54th gap in Indianapolis in August, you possibly can’t assist however surprise what felt longer for Cameron Smith.
Was it his two-year wait for one more skilled win, or the 19-year title drought of his beloved Brisbane Broncos?
Smith was simply 12, carving up the fairways of the Wantima Nation Membership, when his best obsession outdoors of golf, the Broncos, final received the NRL premiership.
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Few may’ve predicted that certainly one of Australian sport’s greatest powerhouses must wait almost twenty years earlier than hoisting the trophy as soon as extra.
Smith’s personal spiral since profitable the 2022 Open Championship and becoming a member of LIV Golf has been simply as unfathomable.
This 12 months, the Broncos’ drought ended, sparking scenes of delirium for many who have weathered the brutal lows of almost 20 barren years.
One would count on that diehard Smith was amongst these — however there was an issue.
He didn’t even see it.
“I used to be really in Scotland enjoying the Dunhill Hyperlinks,” Smith advised reporters at Suncorp Stadium on Tuesday forward of this week’s Australian PGA Championship.
“And if I had recognized that the Grand Remaining was on the identical week because the Dunhill Hyperlinks, perhaps I wouldn’t have performed.
“I used to be at house for the primary spherical of the finals and I used to be saying to the boys, in case you make the ultimate, I’ll come again.
“I had no concept … We had a rain delay on the Saturday, so our spherical bought pushed to Sunday, which was the day of the ultimate.
“I used to be warming up watching it after which I teed off at halftime, so I wasn’t too pleased concerning the timing, however sort of had it on within the bag on silent and was conserving updates because the spherical went on.”
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It’s on this story of well-intentioned fumbling that you simply discover Smith heading into his pet occasion in Brisbane this week. Irrespective of how arduous he’s tried over the previous two years, little has labored out.
Smith stepped into the Broncos’ home on Tuesday, ostensibly for a promotional occasion alongside NRL champion Adam Reynolds, however maybe for some title-winning inspiration, too.
Now left for useless by their all-conquering exploits, Smith’s drought seems like the one one which issues this week at Royal Queensland.
There lingers a sense of if not quickly for Smith — and the details recommend it received’t be — then when, and the place?
Throw a dart on the 156-player discipline for this week and you might simply land on a greater likelihood to win the match based mostly on kind.
Smith missed each lower on the majors this 12 months, completed no increased than T7 in any of LIV Golf’s small-field occasions, and is recent off his sixth-straight missed lower on the Saudi Worldwide.
He has not received an expert match since LIV Bedminster in August 2023, whereas he has not carried out effectively at a serious since his T6 on the Masters in April 2024.
Fairly merely, he has virtually nothing going for him.
However good feeling counts for many in a sport outlined by the fingers’ connectivity with the membership, and the taming of psychological demons that inevitably come up between swings.
And within the Queensland warmth, Smith has loads of it.
Aside from being the state that cast the previous world No.2, Queensland has performed host to Smith profitable three of the previous seven Australian PGA Championships.
As such, it’s troublesome to keep away from inserting some stage of expectation on a participant with such a formidable historical past, kind or no kind.
Smith, nonetheless, has shied away from doing the identical, claiming he “by no means actually performs with expectations”.
Nonetheless, he steered that his latest outcomes don’t inform the complete story, and the reality is that he could also be nearer than it appears.
“It’s sort of been the story of the 12 months, I suppose I assumed I’ve performed higher than what I’ve scored,” he stated after the Saudi Worldwide.
“The work has been there and people poor rounds creeping in … it’s been very irritating.
“That’s actually bothered me this 12 months, whereas prior to now it most likely hasn’t.”
Smith can be buoyed by the truth that the Australian PGA might be performed on the course the place he final received on these shores, Royal Queensland.
“Clearly, it’s a course that I really like and have performed effectively at,” he stated. “I feel simply being at house brings that (playfulness) again slightly bit as effectively, and clearly having success right here at RQ most likely helps.
“I’m attempting to go on the market and never fear about it a lot.”
Solely time will inform whether or not the extra relaxed strategy can pay dividends.
However ought to the scores flip ugly as soon as extra, fear is the one factor that might be left on the desk.
The Australian PGA is adopted by the Australian Open, an occasion which Smith has by no means received, and has develop into one thing of a curse for the 32-year-old.
Smith had one hand on the Stonehaven Cup as a 23-year-old in 2016, however was edged out by Jordan Spieth in a three-man playoff.
In 2022, Smith shockingly missed the 54-hole lower within the 12 months he was the reigning Open champion. Extra not too long ago, he final 12 months wasted a robust begin by going 24-consecutive holes mid-tournament and not using a birdie or eagle, ending the nationwide Open T39.
For a trophy that options many of the who’s who of Australian males’s golf — Adam Scott, Greg Norman, Peter Thomson, Geoff Ogilvy, Greg Chalmers, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard, John Senden, Matt Jones, Cameron Davis —
Smith’s title stays a curious omission on the Stonehaven Cup.
Backside line; Smith’s probabilities in Queensland seem higher than in Victoria.
As such, failure this weekend at Royal Queensland will solely exacerbate one of the distinguished questions within the sport; is LIV Golf damaging its best stars?
Smith, who signed with the insurgent league in late 2022, has been one of many prime examples for many who have argued towards the credibility of LIV Golf over the previous two years.
The Australian nonetheless seemed a pressure in his debut season, profitable twice and ending second on the cash listing behind solely Talor Gooch, whereas he notched top-10 finishes on the PGA Championship and the US Open.
Few may predict that his T6 on the following 12 months’s Masters was the start of the autumn.
Regardless of a pair shut calls, Smith wouldn’t win on the LIV circuit that 12 months, whereas he completed T63, T32 and missed one lower on the 12 months’s three remaining majors.
The pattern has solely grown worse with Smith now on a streak of five-straight missed cuts at majors, and into his third 12 months of not profitable an expert match.
This has been Smith’s longest seek for a win since he first turned professional in 2013.
Many causes might be attributed to Smith’s stark drop-off.
From a technical view level, his play off the tee is in disarray — he was ranked 47/54 for driving accuracy this LIV Golf season, and struggled in any respect 4 majors, notably at Royal Portrush the place he was ranked virtually final at 149th.
There’s additionally the huge life change of turning into a father for the primary time, which he admitted this 12 months has modified his perspective to golf.
“Actually, all I need now could be to have a contented, wholesome son moderately than making as many birdies as I can on the golf course,” he advised Australian Golf Digest.
“After all, I nonetheless wish to do this and to win typically. I’m nonetheless fired up competitively as soon as I’m contained in the ropes, however dangerous rounds most likely don’t break my day as a lot as they used to.”
No matter it’s, Smith has slipped to 345th within the Official World Golf Rankings. On Datagolf, which makes use of a unique formulation that deserves LIV Golf outcomes, he’s nonetheless solely ranked 133rd.
For a lot of, all of it factors to at least one factor.
“I’ll say it out loud … I feel LIV Golf has backfired for Cameron Smith, sadly,” former golfer and Discuss Birdie To Me podcast host Mark Allen stated.
“I at all times really feel like the blokes that went to LIV… the vast majority of them… weren’t die arduous skilled golfers.
“From the skin trying in, it simply appears like LIV stuffed their recreation.”
Former Australian PGA Championship winner Nick O’Hern added: “Nobody drove it worse than him on the majors final 12 months…
“I’m positive it’s annoying the hell out of him too.”
Others have been much more brutal on Smith’s downwards trajectory.
In April, earlier than the Masters, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee stated Smith initially reminded him of eight-time main winner Tom Watson given his scrambling, placing, and skill beneath stress.
Nevertheless, he stated since becoming a member of LIV Golf, Smith had develop into an “at backside” golfer.
“To see him go to LIV, it actually broke my coronary heart,” Chamblee advised CODE Sports activities. “I perceive individuals make selections based mostly upon their very own economics, however he was on his trajectory to be one of many greats.
“I miss him. I observe him round in majors. I’ve met his crew. Good individuals, I really like all of them, however like many of the LIV gamers, apart from a number of, they could as effectively be within the witness safety program.
“You don’t see them aside from 4 occasions a 12 months and also you hardly see them then as a result of virtually all of their video games have decayed.”
Talking in July earlier than The Open, Sky Sports activities professional Paul McGinley additionally pointed the finger at LIV Golf.
He steered that its three-round format with no cuts and assured large paydays had blunted the specter of lots of its gamers when dealing with their PGA Tour rivals.
“There’s a terrific quote from a Navy SEAL that’s broadly utilized in management. ‘What do you do beneath stress?’. And he says, ‘I sink to the extent of my coaching’,” McGinley stated.
“The coaching that the blokes get on LIV, the way in which they play on LIV, it’s not the identical depth because the PGA Tour.
“No one can argue that that isn’t true.”
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Whereas it painted a bleak image on the time — and in some ways it nonetheless does — McGinley’s evaluation could quickly be seen as a optimistic given LIV Golf’s imminent swap to four-round tournaments.
LIV Golf, which awarded about A$580m in prize cash in 2025 — will ditch its 54-hole format for subsequent season in its newest, and largest, push to be recognised by the OWGR.
It means Smith may have an additional spherical to let his ability rise him to the highest, whereas any push to win OWGR factors might be essential when his five-year exemption to the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open run out in 2027.
For fellow Australian Min Woo Lee, the change can solely be a superb factor for Smith.
“Cam was among the finest gamers on this planet earlier than he went to LIV, and I hope he can discover a stride,” he advised Australian Related Press.
“Nice golfers, over time, if there are extra holes, they’re most likely going to return out on high. So hopefully we will see some good golf out of him.”
It’s been a while since Smith even performed a fourth spherical of aggressive golf given he missed the lower in any respect 4 majors, and the Saudi Worldwide, whereas the Alfred Dunhill Hyperlinks was decreased to 3 rounds as a consequence of excessive winds.
The Australian summer time of golf will due to this fact be the primary check of that concept.
And if it goes effectively, it’s not solely a legacy piece on Australian shores that’s up for grabs.
So, too, is a momentum-shifting second — one which may shake the Broncos-sized monkey off his again, and have huge ramifications for Smith’s 2026, and doubtlessly past.