Cameron Smith Struggles at Home and Misses the Cut
The golfer Cameron Smith has had another disappointing performance in his homeland, missing the cut for the seventh consecutive time. The three-time Australian Open PGA champion performed poorly, with a score of four over par 75. Smith began his Friday round on the projected cut line, at two under par, and had early birdie opportunities, but on two occasions his ball stayed on the lip of the hole. After falling below the line with a bogey on the 11th hole, Smith watched his par putts slip away on the 13th and 14th holes, in lamentable scenes at the Royal Queensland Golf Club. Despite a birdie on the 17th hole, which gave him a glimmer of hope, Smith missed the 18th green and three-putted for a double bogey, sealing his fate. Finished with two over par, far from the lead held by Brett Rankin, Kazuma Kobori, Wenyi Ding and Anthony Quayle, who were at nine under par. Rankin, with seven under par after 18 holes, took the lead at the club with nine under par, despite a double bogey on his penultimate hole. Later joined by the 2023 champion, Min Woo Lee, who managed six birdies before a bogey on the last hole that left him one stroke behind. Cameron Davis, Daniel Hillier, Marc Leishman and Marco Penge (seven under par) are close on the leaderboard, while Ryan Fox dropped three strokes at the end to sit at five under par. Adam Scott (six under par) lurks thanks to a long birdie putt on the 17th, while defending champion Elvis Smylie (two under par) managed to make the cut, but European favorites Joaquín Niemann (par) and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (five over par) struggled. Smith endured one of his worst days as a professional, missing the cut at Royal Queensland in 2023, and broke down in tears after a seven-over-par 78 on Friday. However, he returned last year to finish as runner-up, and then lost in a playoff at the Saudi International shortly after. That form abandoned him, the former world number 2 and winner of the 2022 Open Championship was the only player to miss the cut in all four majors this year. Then, he failed to stand out in his next two tournaments and will arrive in Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open with a winless streak approaching two and a half years. Lee, fellow player, who achieved his first victory on the US PGA Tour this year, was immune to the debacle, as he regularly added strokes, and Davis showed no signs of rust in his first tournament since his early exit from the PGA Tour in August. Leishman recovered early in the day, with a chip for eagle from the seventh hole bunker, and then used the driver from the fairway to set up a birdie in an exciting three-hole sequence to finish his round. The former Greg Norman Medal winner, 42, has never won a major title in Australia, but vowed to remain bold in his pursuit of one.The golfer remained true to his style.We are golfers and entertainers and I really enjoy entertaining, whether it’s with a driver off the tee or a cool, spinny bunker shot.
Leishman
