PONTE VEDRA, Florida – Cameron Smith lined up a 25-foot birdie putt at TPC Sawgrass’ 18th green on Wednesday. It had two feet of left-to-right break and it was slightly downhill; not an easy putt for a right-hander.
“This is going to break Pinna’s heart when I hole this,” Smith said with a smirk, referring to a bet his long-time caddie, Sam Pinfold, made on the previous hole that his boss wouldn’t birdie the last hole of this practice round at the Players Championship.
Smith, the 12th best butter on PGA Tour, stepped up and drained the putt in the centre of the cup.
He smiled and looked at Pinfold. “Add that to the tally,” Smith said of the pair’s rolling scoreboard of on-course bets.
World No.10 Smith appeared like a player who knows the Players – considered golf’s unofficial fifth Major – is the start of a serious, five-month stretch of golf.
“This is our biggest tournament of the year so far; from here there’s a Major championship every month and big tournaments in between,” Smith told Australian Golf Digest on Wednesday.
“So it’s head down, bum up this year. The Players Championship is a good kick-starter because there are lots of top players and the course is great, so it gets you in the right mindset before the Masters next month.”
The Players Championship also comes at a perfect time for Smith, who is looking to fire back up after the comedown of his stunning victory two months ago at the elite Tournament of Champions on Maui.
“Yeah, we gave it a pretty good nudge in Hawaii,” Smith said with a laugh. “The next week’s result (missed cut at the Sony Open) probably reflected that. We had a good group of lads and good friends there to celebrate.”
His results have been decent since then; a tie for fourth at the Saudi International and a share of 33rd at Riviera Country Club last month.
But now it’s time for Smith – who owns three top-five results at the Majors – to set his sights on a second victory for 2022.
If that is to come this week, Ponte Vedra resident Smith will have to overcome a run of poor results at TPC Sawgrass – where he practices daily when not on Tour.
Smith’s best finish at the Players was a tie for 56th – and there were missed cuts in his first two Players – until he shared 17th place at last year’s event.
He averages over par for the first two rounds of the Players but when he makes it to the weekend he steps up, averaging 69 in third rounds and half a stroke under par in final rounds.
“I thought originally it would be an advantage for me to live in this area when it came to the Players Championship, but the golf course plays so differently through the year,’ he said.
“Playing here regularly probably comes as a disadvantage for Players Championship; the course is a lot slower and you have to make a big adjustment come Players week.’
“For that reason, I really only the play the course when mates come over from Australia for a hit and giggle.
“I mainly just practice at TPC Sawgrass on the range and short game areas. There are a few PGA Tour players based here at Sawgrass: Billy Horschel, Doc Redman Sam Ryder and Lanto Griffin are the guys I hit balls with and we have a good group.”
Smith feels ready to contend at the Players in his sixth start at TPC Sawgrass given he’s now a four-time PGA Tour winner and ranked within the best 10 golfers in the world.
“I feel really confident in my game; it feels as good as it ever has. I know my history around here isn’t great, but hopefully we can change it.”
Smith is in a big-name group with reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama and Joaquin Niemann.
Adam Scott, the 2004 Players winner, has also been given a marquee grouping for the first two rounds alongside 2008 Players winner Sergio Garcia and former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen.
TEE TIMES (AEST)
Matt Jones: 11.29pm (Thursday AEST); Scott (off 10th tee)
Cam Smith: 11.40pm
Jason Day: 4.23am (Friday AEST)
Cam Davis 4.34am
Lucas Herbert: 4.56am
Marc Leishman: 5.18am
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