Cameron Smith (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian professional golfer. Partnered with Jonas Blixt, they won the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He won the tournament again in 2021 with Marc Leishman. His biggest individual successes have been in winning the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions, the 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii and the Australian PGA Championship, which he won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Smith also was runner up in the 2020 Masters.
| Cameron Smith | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | 18 August 1993 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 172 lb (78 kg) |
| Sporting nationality |  Australia |
| Residence | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 2013 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour of Australasia PGA Tour |
| Former tour(s) | Asian Tour |
| Professional wins | 7 |
| Highest ranking | 2 (17 July 2022)[1] (as of 27 October 2024) |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 5 |
| European Tour | 2 |
| PGA Tour of Australasia | 2 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T2: 2020 |
| PGA Championship | T25: 2015 |
| U.S. Open | T4: 2015 |
| The Open Championship | T20: 2019 |
Professional career
Smith turned professional in 2013.[2] He has played on the PGA Tour of Australasia since 2013. He was 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.
In April 2015, 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.[3] The finish also earned Smith Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2015 season.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.
On 2 December 2018, Smith defended his title at the Australian PGA Championship, winning by two strokes over Marc Leishman.[7]
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.[8]
In January 2020, Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff over Brendan Steele; his first individual victory on the PGA Tour.
In finishing tied for runner-up to Dustin Johnson at the 2020 Masters, Smith also became the first golfer in Masters history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s (67-68-69-69).[9]
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.[10]
In January 2022, 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.[11]
In March 2022, Smith won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, by one shot from Anirban Lahiri, becoming thr fifith Australian to win the tournament.
Amateur wins
- 2011 Australian Boys' Amateur, Australian Amateur Stroke Play,[12] Victorian Junior Masters
- 2012 Australian Amateur medallist[13]
- 2013 Australian Amateur[14]
Professional wins (7)
PGA Tour wins (5)
| Legend |
| Players Championships (1) |
| Other PGA Tour (4) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 May 2017 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with  Jonas Blixt)
|
−27 (67-62-68-64=261) | Playoff |  Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner
|
| 2 | 12 Jan 2020 | Sony Open in Hawaii | −11 (70-65-66-68=269) | Playoff | Brendan Steele
|
| 3 | 25 Apr 2021 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans (2) (with Marc Leishman)
|
−20 (63-72-63-70=268) | Playoff |  Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel
|
| 4 | 9 Jan 2022 | Sentry Tournament of Champions | −34 (65-64-64-65=258) | 1 stroke |  Jon Rahm
|
| 5 | 14 Mar 2022 | The Players Championship | −13 (69-71-69-66=275) | 1 stroke |  Anirban Lahiri
|
PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Jonas Blixt)
|
Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner
|
Won with birdie on fourth extra hole |
| 2 | 2020 | Sony Open in Hawaii | Brendan Steele
|
Won with par on first extra hole |
| 3 | 2021 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Marc Leishman)
|
Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel
|
Won with par on first extra hole |
| 4 | 2021 | The Northern Trust | Tony Finau
|
Lost to par on first extra hole |
European Tour wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 Dec 2017 (2018 season) |
Australian PGA Championship1 | −18 (68-67-67-68=270) | Playoff | Jordan Zunic
|
| 2 | 2 Dec 2018 (2019 season) |
Australian PGA Championship1 (2) | −16 (70-65-67-70=272) | 2 strokes | Marc Leishman
|
1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017 | Australian PGA Championship | Jordan Zunic
|
Won with par on second extra hole |
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 Dec 2017 | Australian PGA Championship1 | −18 (68-67-67-68=270) | Playoff | Jordan Zunic
|
| 2 | 2 Dec 2018 | Australian PGA Championship1 (2) | −16 (70-65-67-70=272) | 2 strokes | Marc Leishman
|
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Emirates Australian Open | Ashley Hall, Jordan Spieth
|
Spieth won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2017 | Australian PGA Championship | Jordan Zunic
|
Won with par on second extra hole |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T55 | T5 | ||
| U.S. Open | T4 | T59 | CUT | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | 78 | ||
| PGA Championship | T25 | CUT | T56 |
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T51 | T2 | T10 |
| PGA Championship | T64 | T43 | T59 |
| U.S. Open | T72 | T38 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | T20 | NT | T33 |
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 made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 17 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2018 Open – 2021 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2020 Masters - 2021 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Players Championship | 2 shot deficit | −13 (69-71-69-66=275) | 1 stroke | Anirban Lahiri
|
Results timeline
| Tournament | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | CUT | T56 | C | T17 | 1 |
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 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | T6 | T22 | T11 | ||||
| Match Play | QF | T61 | NT1 | T28 | |||
| Invitational | 23 | T12 | T59 | T5 | |||
| Champions | T64 | T54 | T60 | NT1 | NT1 |
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[15]
See also
References
- ^ "Week 29 2022 Ending 17 Jul 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ "Smith makes his Aussie debut at the QLD Open". PGA of Australia. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Australian golfer Cameron Smith fires early at Pebble Beach". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ Gray, Will (22 June 2015). "Smith (T-4): Temporary membership, Masters invite". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ "Cameron Smith – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "Cameron Smith-Jonas Blixt team wins Zurich Classic in a playoff". ESPN. Associated Press. 1 May 2017.
- ^ "Cameron Smith defends Australian PGA Championship title by two strokes". ESPN. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Dusek, David (15 December 2019). "Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks". Golfweek.
- ^ Wacker, Brian (15 November 2020). "Masters 2020: Cameron Smith makes Augusta history and still doesn't get a green jacket". Golf Digest. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Australian duo Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman win Zurich Classic in playoff". ESPN. Associated Press. 25 April 2021.
- ^ "Cameron Smith (34 under) sets PGA Tour record, outlasts Jon Rahm at Sentry Tournament of Champions". ESPN. Associated Press. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ Powter, Anthony (16 April 2011). "Cameron Smith double Aussie titles". iseekgolf.com. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "2012 Australian Men's Amateur Championship" (PDF). Golf Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "Smith and Lee crowned Amateur champions". Golf Australia. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "Cameron Smith comes full circle with Greg Norman Medal win". Australian Golf Media. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
External links
- Cameron Smith Archived 14 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine at the PGA Tour of Australasia official site
- Cameron Smith at the PGA Tour official site
- Cameron Smith at the Official World Golf Ranking official site