Cameron Smith (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. He won the 2022 Open Championship, and has won five other tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the 2022 Players Championship. He has also won the Australian PGA Championship three times.
Early life Smith was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and grew up in the northern suburb of Bray Park where he attended Pine Rivers State High School throughout his upbringing. As a two-year-old, Smith began playing at Wantima Country Club, a small golf course in the northern suburb of Brisbane while his father Des worked as a printer and was a club captain at the club. Smith's mother, Sharon, worked at the local department store. Smith has a sister, Mel. In 2010, Smith represented Australia in the boys' division of the Trans Tasman Cup alongside Ryan Peake.
Professional career
Australasian Tours In 2013, Smith turned professional. He played on the PGA Tour of Australasia. Smith finished tied for second at the 2015 Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship and at the 2016 Emirates Australian Open.
Smith played on the Asian Tour in 2014, finishing in the top-10 seven times and finishing 5th on the Order of Merit. His best finish was tied for second at the 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters. Smith's first PGA Tour event was the CIMB Classic in October 2014, which was a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour; he tied for 5th.
PGA Tour In April, Smith tied for 15th in the RBC Heritage, playing on a sponsor's exemption. After qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open, his top-4 finish earned him an invitation to the 2016 Masters Tournament. The finish also earned Smith Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season. Smith earned his 2015–16 PGA Tour card by earning enough as a non-member to have been in the top 125 on the money list: his best three events would have been sufficient.
In 2016 Smith finished 157th in the FedEx points list. His performance in the Web.com Tour Finals, where he was runner-up in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, allowed him to return to the PGA Tour for 2017.
In May 2017, Smith, partnered with Jonas Blixt, won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the first team event on the PGA Tour since 1981. The pair did not make a bogey during the tournament and defeated Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner in a playoff. It was Smith's first career PGA Tour win. He had two top-10 finishes on the 2017 PGA Tour, tying for 6th place at the Valero Texas Open and for 7th at the Wyndham Championship and finished 46th in the FedEx Cup standings. He started the new PGA Tour season by tying for 5th place in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and finishing 3rd in the CJ Cup in South Korea in late 2017. Smith continued his good form by finishing 4th in the Emirates Australian Open and then winning the Australian PGA Championship the following week, beating Jordan Zunic in a playoff. In December 2018, Smith defended his title at the Australian PGA Championship, winning by two strokes over Marc Leishman.
In December 2019, Smith played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Smith went 1–1–1 including a win in his Sunday singles match against Justin Thomas.
In January 2020, Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff over Brendan Steele; his first individual victory on the PGA Tour. At the 2020 Masters in November, Smith became the first golfer in Masters history to shoot four rounds in the 60s (67-68-69-69).
In April 2021, Smith won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the second time. This time he was partnered with fellow countryman Marc Leishman. The duo won in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
Smith qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and competed in the men's competition in July/August 2021. He scored −14 across the four rounds and finished tenth. In spite of shooting 66 in the third and fourth rounds, he was still out of medal contention.
In January, Smith won the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort on Maui, Hawaii. Smith shot a PGA Tour record of 34 under par winning by one stroke over world number one Jon Rahm. 34 under par beat the previous mark of 31 under par set by Ernie Els at the same tournament in 2003. In March, Smith won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, becoming the fifth Australian to win the tournament; having hit his second shot on the final hole into the water, Smith managed to get up and down to make a bogey and finish one stroke ahead of Anirban Lahiri.
In July, Smith won his first major championship at the 150th Open Championship, played at the Old Course at St Andrews. He shot a final-round 64 to come from four strokes off the lead and finish one shot ahead of Cameron Young and two ahead of joint third round leader Rory McIlroy. During the FedEx Cup Playoffs in August, he struggled with a hip injury, and did not play in the second event, the BMW Championship. At the end of the PGA Tour season, he won the PGA Player of the Year award. In November, Smith won the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship for the third time.
LIV Golf Series
At the end of August 2022, following the Tour Championship, it was announced that Smith had joined LIV Golf. The move had been speculated since The Open, with him repeatedly declining to confirm or deny the rumours.
Smith finished in a tie for 4th in his first LIV start in Boston, with Dustin Johnson winning the 3-man playoff. He won in his second start, scoring rounds of 66, 68 and 69 to finish on 13-under par to win by three shots ahead of previous winner Dustin Johnson and Peter Uihlein. Smith won over $5 million from his first 4 starts on LIV Golf.
Amateur wins 2011 Australian Boys' Amateur, Australian Amateur Stroke Play, Victorian Junior Masters 2012 Australian Amateur medallist 2013 Australian Amateur
Professional wins (12) PGA Tour wins (6) Legend Major championships (1) Players Championships (1) Other PGA Tour (4) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up11 May 2017Zurich Classic of New Orleans(with Jonas Blixt)−27 (67-62-68-64=261)Playoff Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner212 Jan 2020Sony Open in Hawaii−11 (70-65-66-68=269)Playoff Brendan Steele325 Apr 2021Zurich Classic of New Orleans (2)(with Marc Leishman)−20 (63-72-63-70=268)Playoff Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel49 Jan 2022Sentry Tournament of Champions −34 (65-64-64-65=258)1 stroke Jon Rahm514 Mar 2022The Players Championship −13 (69-71-69-66=275)1 stroke Anirban Lahiri617 Jul 2022The Open Championship−20 (67-64-73-64=268)1 stroke Cameron Young
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12017Zurich Classic of New Orleans(with Jonas Blixt) Scott Brown and Kevin KisnerWon with birdie on fourth extra hole22020Sony Open in Hawaii Brendan SteeleWon with par on first extra hole32021Zurich Classic of New Orleans(with Marc Leishman) Louis Oosthuizen and Charl SchwartzelWon with par on first extra hole42021The Northern Trust Tony FinauLost to par on first extra hole
European Tour wins (4) Legend Major championships (1) Other European Tour (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up13 Dec 2017(2018 season)Australian PGA Championship1−18 (68-67-67-68=270)Playoff Jordan Zunic22 Dec 2018(2019 season)Australian PGA Championship1 (2)−16 (70-65-67-70=272)2 strokes Marc Leishman317 Jul 2022The Open Championship−20 (67-64-73-64=268)1 stroke Cameron Young427 Nov 2022(2023 season)Fortinet Australian PGA Championship1 (3)−14 (68-65-69-68=270)3 strokes Ryo Hisatsune, Jason Scrivener 1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12017Australian PGA Championship Jordan ZunicWon with par on second extra hole
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up13 Dec 2017Australian PGA Championship1−18 (68-67-67-68=270)Playoff Jordan Zunic22 Dec 2018Australian PGA Championship1 (2)−16 (70-65-67-70=272)2 strokes Marc Leishman327 Nov 2022Fortinet Australian PGA Championship1 (3)−14 (68-65-69-68=270)3 strokes Ryo Hisatsune, Jason Scrivener 1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12016Emirates Australian Open Ashley Hall, Jordan SpiethSpieth won with birdie on first extra hole22017Australian PGA Championship Jordan ZunicWon with par on second extra hole
LIV Golf League wins (3) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up118 Sep 2022LIV Golf Invitational Chicago−13 (66-68-69=203)3 strokes Dustin Johnson, Peter Uihlein29 Jul 2023LIV Golf London1−15 (63-67-68=198)1 stroke Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed313 Aug 2023LIV Golf Bedminster1−12 (66-67-68=201)7 strokes Anirban Lahiri 1Co-sanctioned by the MENA Tour
LIV Golf League playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12023LIV Golf Tulsa Branden Grace, Dustin JohnsonJohnson won with birdie on first extra hole22024LIV Golf Hong Kong Abraham Ancer, Paul CaseyAncer won with birdie on first extra hole
Playoff record Asian Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12024PIF Saudi International Joaquín Niemann, Caleb SurrattNiemann won with birdie on second extra hole
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2022 The Open Championship 4 shot deficit −20 (67-64-73-64=268) 1 stroke Cameron Young
Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentT55T5 U.S. OpenT4T59CUTThe Open ChampionshipCUT78PGA ChampionshipT25CUTT56 Tournament20192020202120222023202420252026Masters TournamentT51T2T10T3T34T6CUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT64T43T59T13T9T63CUTT7U.S. OpenT72T38CUTCUT4T32CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipT20NTT331T33CUTCUTCUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 1 1 3 5 5 10 8PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 2 4 11 9U.S. Open 0 0 0 2 2 2 11 6The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 1 2 9 5Totals 1 1 1 6 10 13 41 28 Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2018 Open – 2021 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)
The Players Championship Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2022 The Players Championship 2 shot deficit −13 (69-71-69-66=275) 1 stroke Anirban Lahiri
Results timeline Tournament201720182019202020212022The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT56CT171
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 20202021ChampionshipT6T22T11Match PlayQFT61NT1T28Invitational23T12T59T5ChampionsT64T54T60NT1NT1 1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play NT = No tournament "T" = Tied
Team appearances Amateur Nomura Cup (representing Australia): 2011 (winners) Eisenhower Trophy (representing Australia): 2012 Bonallack Trophy (representing Asia/Pacific): 2012 Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing Australia): 2012 Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing Queensland): 2010 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2012, 2013 (winners)
Professional World Cup (representing Australia): 2018 Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2019
Recognition 2020 – Greg Norman Medal 2022 - Australian Institute of Sport Male Athlete of The Year
See also 2016 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
References
External links
Cameron Smith at the PGA Tour of Australasia official site