Newtown Square, Pa. – Cam Smith had been here ahead. But he hadn’t been here at one time.
With the Philadelphia sun beating down of Aronimink On the 18th green on Sunday, Smith surveyed the terraced putting green, which was getting cooler by the minute. When the Australian started his final round at the PGA Championship, he had a number in his head. He had seen Justin Thomas goes out and posts 5 under and noticed the board packed with leaders behind him struggling to score as the course tightened. He would fall short of his target, 6 under, but he had 14 feet between him and a closing birdie to match Thomas and tie the clubhouse lead. Fourteen feet for a slim chance of staying alive for the no. 2.
“I wanted to make that putt,” Smith said.
Smith, who rode a hot putter all Sunday at Aronimink, took a smoother putt and sent the ball toward the hole. Was in the hunt but bogged down at the last second for a closing par and a 2-under 68 to come home at 4 under, one shot clear of Thomas. Hours later, it would be five shots back the eventual winner, Aaron Rai, leaving Smith with a T7 finish.
But in that moment, what mattered was that Cam Smith was close to where he wanted to be. As close as it has been in a long time.
In 2022, the Australian rose to the top of the golf world. He won the Players and then ran Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the Open to triumph in St. Andrews. it joined LIV Golf later that summer and remained one of the best players in the world until mid-2024. Beginning with the 2024 PGA at Valhalla, Smith missed six of eight major cuts and fell out of sight as a legitimate major championship threat.
A missed cut at the Masters in April left him devastated. He listened to all the hype to join LIV and lose his competitive race. It was stupid. He didn’t lose his edge; his game had just slipped. He was grinding to find her and be his old self. But sometimes golf doesn’t always give you what you think you deserve.
“You don’t work hard to play shit, and it’s frustrating, and the last two years have been frustrating,” Smith said Sunday at Aronimink. “I feel like I put in the work and got nothing out of it.”
it week in AroniminkCam Smith finally reappeared. The work finally paid dividends.
Smith began Sunday’s final round four shots behind 54-hole leader Alex Smalley but settled for the pinnacle of this major championship. He made birdies on Nos. 3, 5 and 9 to reach one lead and send a shock through the Philadelphia crowd. He was firmly back in the cauldron, a place he longed to return to. It’s where he feels comfortable, or at least he feels.
But when you haven’t been under the main gun of the championship for a while, everything feels new again for a while. Smith welcomed the nerves and the pressure. When you’ve been searching for your way back to where you want to be, finally knowing you’re on the right path can fill your soul, even if you haven’t reached your destination yet.
“Thanks for explaining that. I haven’t been there in a while. You’re right,” Smith said with a laugh. “It was good. I love this stuff. That’s why we compete. We compete to win, and it was good to get your heart rate up and, you know, feel your hands and feet turn to a little jelly. It was good.”
Sunday at Aronimink was vintage Cam Smith. He traveled it all over the crown jewel of Donald Ross’ golden era, ending up in some places the top championship contenders don’t plan to be on Sunday afternoon. But every time it looked like he was about to get out of proceedings, Smith’s weapons — his short game and his shooting — bailed him out.
He made par shots of lengths 10, 11, 12 and 15 which saved momentum. Smith was a crowd pleaser as he walked the tees and shared laughs with his mates as they prepared for each tee shot. The sheer pressure of a championship can do all kinds of things to all kinds of golfers, regardless of their resume. But on Sunday, as the PGA Championship was being decided, Cam Smith looked at home. It was finally back to where it was supposed to be.
“I feel like I’ve thrived in the majors throughout my career,” Smith said. “I feel like I’ve been able to play my best golf in majors, and it kind of fell through. I don’t think it was for lack of hard work. I just think you lose a little bit of confidence in your swing and maybe your brain, and anything can happen so quickly. I’m proud of the way I hung in there today, and I’m proud of a new mindset for this week.”
This new thinking and new swing came when Smith made the “devastating” decision to fire his longtime swing coach, Grant Field, who he had worked with since he was nine years old, and hire Claude Harmon. It’s a decision that still weighs heavily on Smith, but this week at Aronimink was proof that he’s finally on his way back to being Cam Smith.
Cam Smith felt it. Everyone else saw it on Sunday.
When that last birdie effort missed and Smith’s PGA Championship fate was sealed, he took off his hat and hugged his caddy. He tossed a ball to a young fan on his way to score. That had been a long time coming. Cam Smith walked through a lot of darkness to bask in the Philadelphia sun on a big Sunday in Aronimink, win or lose.
“I’ve had so many bad weeks or bad weeks over the last few years that you’re waiting for it all to blow over,” Smith told GOLF near the Aronimink Club. “It was good for him to just progress and move on and not do it.
“I’m happy with how I stayed there and I believe I’m doing the right things.”
As Aronimink went down on Sunday, major champions left the course and left empty-handed, spoiling a missed opportunity to add to their resumes. But Cam Smith felt otherwise. He left Philadelphia with what he was chasing — he finally felt like Cam Smith again.
;)
