Cameron Smith returns for title defence at Hoylake, LIV Golf

Protecting the famed ‘Road Hole’ at St Andrews is the most notorious hazard in world golf; a seven-foot, sandy grave that once took Tommy Nakajima four shots to escape in a meltdown that blew his 1978 Open Championship to bits.

Last year, the bunker stood between Cameron Smith and his chances of becoming the first Australian to lift the Claret Jug since Greg Norman in 1993.

Like a black hole’s event horizon, a boundary exists around the bunker in which any ball cannot escape, should it cross.

In one of golf’s most daredevil putts, Smith perfectly rode this boundary and left himself a 10-foot par-save, which he nailed in one of the greatest escape acts in majors history.

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The Road Hole bunker would not be the most formidable trap that last year’s Open champion was to face, however.

Another was to arrive that afternoon and, this time, the danger was inescapable.

A UK reporter had been chasing a bombshell story all week about LIV Golf poaching PGA Tour stars — and one surprising name kept coming up.

The reporter told Smith during the winner’s press conference that it was his, and the Queenslander, just like Nakajima in 1978, had no way out.

Not that he didn’t try his best to escape.

“I just won the British Open and you’re asking about that. I think that’s, pretty, not that good,” an angry Smith responded, the jovial air suddenly poisoned.

Pressed further by the journalist, Smith didn’t deny that he was in discussions to join the rival, controversial circuit, fronted by Norman and funded by Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth.

“I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments,” he said.

A winner’s press conference was no longer just that, but instead a fork in the road for Smith who was suddenly careening down a different path.

AN IMAGE CHANGED

One year later, it’s clear the events of that afternoon irreversibly shaped Smith’s professional career.

Smith last July was, undoubtedly, one of the best players in the world, worthy of being in the same discussion as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

In winning the Open the same year as the Players Championship, and the Tournament of Champions, Smith rose as high as world No.2.

The ranking didn’t flatter him, either.

Meanwhile, his soft-spoken politeness, down-to-earth persona, and that mullet also made him one of the game’s most universally-liked players.

But the duality of that winner’s press conference meant Smith was now shouldering a second, less flattering image in the golf world.

Smith was accused of prioritising money over legacy and, whether that was true or not, the facts left him with little room to defend himself.

Smith was pocketing a reported A$140 million sign-on fee, equity in a LIV Golf team, and the chance to spend more time in Australia during the summer.

What Smith was losing in turn was hard to put a dollar-value on. In joining LIV Golf, Smith had no guarantees about still playing the majors, about his lofty world ranking, or about how long the rival circuit would last.

In other words, he had no control over his legacy, and had proved himself to be a gambler — perhaps that shot at the Road Hole said more about him than we realised when it was sweetly struck.

Needless to say, the 12 months that were to follow would look nothing like what was envisaged for Smith.

As he putted out on St Andrews’ 18th green to be all but certain to hoist the Claret Jug, Aussie minds quickly raced towards the generational greatness that could be.

Smith’s major triumph was no bolt from the blue, but the culmination of a long and consistent upwards trend that suggested the Australian was going to be a world-beater.

But daydreams of Smith in a green jacket were swiftly destroyed, and replaced by doubts over whether he’d even be allowed on the Augusta National property the following April.

Smith said nothing about if he was joining LIV, but the silence at St Andrews was damning.

He eventually slipped away to the Old Course Hotel to see how many beers he could fit in the Claret Jug. His prediction was two cans — and he joked he’d drink “about 20 Claret Jugs” that night after delivering arguably the greatest ever back nine to win a major (he shot a 30 with six birdies and no bogeys).

As the boozy celebrations kicked off, golf scribes around the world were finding ways to not just explain his otherworldly performance, but also the looming LIV bombshell that was just foreshadowed.

Today, one of the most enduring memories of Smith’s seismic triumph at the 150th Open Championship isn’t the win at all, but rather the press conference, and what happened next.

NEW ENEMIES

In some ways, a strange balancing act has remained when reporting on Smith.

He was one of the most likeable players on Tour, but was suddenly at the centre of a wildly unpopular move that made him strange enemies in high places.

For example, Smith has never met 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, and yet, he was suddenly the source of the American great’s anger.

Smith’s negotiations with the Saudi circuit had rankled some of the game’s legends, chiefly Couples who took a not-so-subtle swipe at the golfer over his justification about spending more time with family.

“To all my friends who I missed birthdays and weddings … so sorry, I was busy earning a living on the PGA Tour,” Couples wrote.

“And in my line of work the goal is to EARN your way to work weekends … and by weekends I mean 72 holes.”

Smith stayed on the PGA Tour until the end of the Tour Championship, in which he pocketed a $640,000 cheque (A$940k) and headed for the LIV hills.

His signing was the biggest for LIV Golf in its debut season, and was thought to be a potential catalyst for more massive coups that would escalate golf’s civil war.

LIV Golf had exceeded the expectations of many already by signing big-name Americans Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, but many of its stars were out-of-form and did nothing to dispel the stigma around the breakaway tour.

Smith, however, was young, in his prime, and, in the estimations of many, the best player in the world at that time.

If it wasn’t already, the panic Smith’s departure was causing on the PGA Tour became evident when McIlroy personally reached out with a pitch to try and get him to stay.

Smith’s mind was made up, though, with McIlroy copping another loss at the hands of the then 28-year-old.

Days after the Tour Championship, Smith arrived on the LIV circuit in Boston, where he immediately enhanced the product and only missed out on a three-way playoff by one shot.

The next event was in Chicago, where Smith won the top $4 million prize (A$5.9m) in what was some vindication for his bold gamble to jump ship.

However, as impressive as these performances were, they carried with them the same asterisk as any does on the LIV circuit.

In a 54-hole event, against a field of only 48 players, with very few of those belonging to the world’s top 50, just how meaningful is a win outside of the prize money?

COMING OFF THE BOIL

Smith would later return to Australia, as promised, and promptly won his third Australian PGA Championship by beating Jason Scrivener and Ryo Hisatsune in a playoff.

It was Smith’s fifth tournament win of the year after three victories on the PGA Tour, one at LIV Golf, and one in Australia.

But the signs of fatigue were starting to show following a bumper 2022 schedule that had him firmly in the exhausting spotlight for lengthy periods.

Smith closed out the LIV Golf season with a lowly 42nd place in Bangkok, and 22nd in Jeddah, while he missed the cut at the Australian Open to end the year.

A two-month break followed with the 2023 LIV season not starting until late February in Mayakoba, before events in Tucson and Orlando.

Smith came sixth, 26th and 29th, struggling with his driver as the year’s first major rapidly approached.

Augusta National, along with the organisers of the other three majors, all decided to honour its selection criteria, meaning LIV Golf players were not banned from competing.

It was good news for Smith, but making the most of it would prove difficult with little form to lean on.

Despite having finished inside the top-10 at the Masters four times in the past five years, Smith didn’t contend in 2023 and came a distant T34, a whopping 16 strokes behind winner Rahm.

This week, Smith defended his decision to join LIV but conceded that it left him poorly prepared for the year’s first major.

“It was the best move I could have made when I made it and it’s been even better now,” Smith said of his LIV move. “But probably one thing to look out for myself was maybe try and play one or two more events before we start up major season again.

“It was a big break and definitely one I needed but I don’t think I was quite 100 per cent for the Masters and I was not really disappointed or upset, it was just annoying the way I have played since then and in the majors as well, it’s been really good.

“It’s just kind of getting those competitive juices going again maybe a couple of more times.”

‘BETTER THAN EVER’

Even if Smith struggled at the Masters, the more he’s played in 2023, the better he’s become — ironic when you consider he joined LIV to be able to play less.

He hasn’t finished lower than 12th in a LIV event since, including a second-place finish in Tulsa and a win last week in London.

Meanwhile, he was back among the best at the majors by coming T9 and fourth at the PGA Championship and US Open respectively.

Those two results saw him recuperate some of the world rankings points he had lost, going from world No.9 back to No.7.

Central to his improvement has been gains off the tee, which was once his Achilles heel but has now been remedied.

“The last couple of months I feel like I have really put the foot down, doing all the right stuff and started to straighten out the driver,” Smith said.

“That’s kind of been the hardest thing for me towards the start of the year when we started this new feel. It was looking good on the range, hitting lots of balls, doing all the right stuff then getting out on the golf course and really letting it go was the next thing.

“Now it’s feeling better than it’s ever felt.”

He added: “And it’s so much fun to play links golf when it’s firm and fast and windy. You have to hit crazy shots and sometimes really great shots.

“It’s a type of golf I have learned to love and definitely one I feel confident on now.”

UNCERTAIN, BUT BRIGHT FUTURE

Smith might enter this year’s Open having solved puzzles within his own game, but the tumultuous landscape of men’s professional golf, particularly for LIV players, means the shape of his future remains unclear.

Golf was rocked by a bombshell announcement last month that, after more than a year of petty squabbling and ongoing legal action, the PGA Tour and LIV’s financial backers, the Public Investment Fund, were laying down arms and uniting.

Neither PGA Tour or LIV Golf players knew anything about the agreement, nor did Norman, whose own future as LIV chief remains heavily clouded.

In fact, the details of the entire agreement remain sketchy. That includes the future of LIV Golf, which inexplicably stalled in season two following the signing of Smith, who remains its most recent big-name recruit.

LIV Golf has a 2024 schedule and, as things stand, will continue — but in announcing the agreement to form a new golf entity, neither the PGA Tour, nor PIF, gave any iron-clad assurance that it will survive in its current format.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is said to have the final say on LIV’s future, but must act in “good faith” after a full empirical evaluation of its assets.

Furthermore, the sudden interest shown in the PGA Tour by PIF has raised red flags at Capitol Hill, with a US Senate subcommittee now looking into the motivations behind the proposed merger.

What it means for Smith is that, after less than 12 months of being a LIV Golf player, he may not be one for much longer.

But having shut doors to himself last year, they’re opening up again with golf’s forces committing to reintegrating LIV Golf players back on the PGA and DP World Tours.

It’s understood that those who took big LIV Golf sign-on bonuses must pay some sort of price under any new partnership. What that price is remains unclear, but it’s been reported that those who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour could be rewarded with stakes in new teams, while LIV Golf members would be offered nothing.

You suspect the turbulent golfing landscape will offer at least one more jolt in the weeks, or months, ahead as plans for the PGA-PIF merger become clearer.

For now, this year’s Open is set to take place with temperatures surprisingly cooled, and the golf actually taking centre stage.

A total of 81 bunkers will stand before Smith and the Hoylake clubhouse when he stands on the first tee on Thursday to start his title defence. And while peril lurks with every one of them, Smith can at least be sure this year that the danger won’t follow him off the course, too.

This can only be seen as a positive for Smith who, like last year, enters the year’s final major as one of the world’s most in-form players.

There are signs he’s well on his way, if not already back to, his major-winning form of last year — especially after a drought-breaking one-shot victory in London over Patrick Reed and Marc Leishman.