Smith Sinks: 7 Straight Cuts and Disappointment at the PGA Championship

Cameron Smith Fails in His Homeland and Misses the Cut

Cameron Smith, three-time Australian PGA champion, had a disappointing performance in his homeland, recording a four-over-par 75 that led him to miss the cut for the seventh consecutive time. The local player began his Friday round on the projected cut line, two under par, and had early birdie opportunities, but on two occasions his ball stayed on the edge of the hole. After falling below the line with a bogey on the 11th hole, Smith watched par putts slip away on the 13th and 14th holes, in scenes of frustration at the Royal Queensland Golf Club. Although he managed an eight-foot birdie on the 17th hole, which offered a glimmer of hope, he then missed the 18th green and took three putts 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 and still had holes to play. 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. Min Woo Lee, the 2023 champion, joined later, making six birdies before a bogey on the last hole, leaving him one stroke behind. Cameron Davis, Daniel Hillier, Marc Leishman and Marco Penge (seven under par) are close in a tight leaderboard, while Ryan Fox dropped three strokes at the end to be 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, and broke down in tears after a round of seven over par 78 on Friday. But he returned last year to finish as runner-up, and then lost a play-off at the Saudi International shortly after. That form abandoned him, and the former world number 2 and 2022 Open Championship winner 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. The playing partner Lee, 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 an early exit from the PGA Tour in August. Leishman got more excited earlier in the day, by making a chip for eagle from the seventh hole bunker and then using the driver from the fairway to set up a birdie in an exciting three-hole sequence to finish 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.