Cameron Smith Struggles at Home and Misses the Cut
Cameron Smith, the three-time Australian PGA champion, has had another disappointing performance in his homeland, missing the cut for the seventh consecutive time after a four-over-par round (75). Smith, who started Friday on the projected cut line at two under par, had early birdie opportunities, but on two occasions left the ball on the edge of the hole. After falling below the cut line with a bogey on the 11th hole, Smith watched par putts slip away on the 13th and 14th holes, amidst a complicated environment at the Royal Queensland Golf Club. A birdie on the 17th hole gave him a glimmer of hope, but then he missed the 18th green and took three putts for a double bogey, sealing his fate. Finished with two over par, far from the top of the leaderboard, headed by Brett Rankin, Kazuma Kobori, Wenyi Ding and Anthony Quayle, who were at nine under par. Rankin, with seven under par after 18 holes, achieved the provisional lead at nine under par despite a double bogey on his penultimate hole. Later joined by the 2023 champion, Min Woo Lee, who made six birdies before a bogey on the final hole that left him one stroke behind. Cameron Davis, Daniel Hillier, Marc Leishman, and Marco Penge (seven under par) are within striking distance on a very tight 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) recovered to make the cut. However, Joaquín Niemann (par) and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (five over par) struggled. Smith suffered one of his worst days as a professional, missing the cut at the Royal Queensland in 2023. The previous year, he had finished as runner-up and then lost in a playoff at the Saudi International. That form abandoned him, and 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 shine in his next two tournaments and will arrive in Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open with a winless streak of almost two and a half years. His playing partner, Lee, who secured his first victory on the US PGA Tour this year, was immune to the debacle, while Davis showed no signs of rust in his first tournament since his early exit from the PGA Tour in August. Leishman got excited at the beginning of the day, chipping in for eagle from the bunker on the seventh hole and then using the driver from the fairway to set up a birdie in an exciting three-hole sequence to end his round. The former Greg Normal Medal winner, 42, has never won a major Australian title, but vowed to remain bold in his pursuit of one.“Playing like you would at home, not with careless shots, but with fun shots and facing the holes in different ways. I’m fighting all the time and trying to take it… to get to many of the holes that some people can’t,” he added.We are golfers and entertainers, and I really enjoy entertaining, whether it’s with a driver off the tee or a bunker shot with spin.
Leishman
