Defending champion Cameron Smith was close to tears after what he called an “unacceptable” performance as he missed the cut at the Australian PGA Championship by nine shots.
Cameron Smith branded his performance as “unacceptable” after missing the cut at the Australian PGA Championship by nine shots
The 2022 Open champion carded six bogeys and a double bogey in his second round of 78 that saw him finish on nine over, with the cut made at level par.
Only six players finished with a worse score after two rounds, and with the event being played in his home of Brisbane Smith took it pretty badly.
Australia has been so good to me, there’s no reason to perform like ttat. Unacceptable “, said smith in an emotional post- round interview.
“Yeah, no words. Since. I’ve performed under pressure before and it’s not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually,” added Smith, who also won the Australian PGA in 2017 and 2018 along with last year’s success.
“I know what I’m doing, it’s just going out there and committing to something is another thing.”
It was one of, if not the worst day as a pro golfer for the 30-year-old, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites after winning last year.
Smith also finished second in the individual LIV Golf standings, but his horror show at Royal Queensland Golf Club also puts his chances of making the Paris Olympics next year in doubt.
Due to playing at LIV, Smith’s chances to earn ranking points in order to make the Australian Olympic team are limited – and he’ll now look to produce a vastly improved display as next week’s Australian Open in Sydney.
“I hope I can get it together for next week and put on a better show than that,” Smith added as he left bitterly disappointed.
Smith could scarcely put a foot right during his round, which would’ve been exacerbated playing close by countryman Min Charm Lee who shot a shimmering 66 to lead the competition by a single shot from Adam Scott.
“It’s golf, that occurs and one week from now I’m certain he will return, it’s what great players do,” Lee said of Smith.
“With loved ones, in his old neighborhood – a couple of beverages and relax for the following week.”
Scott oversaw one better than Lee with a 65 placing him simply a stroke behind heading into the end of the week.
“It’s generally good to have an intruder free round, I most likely haven’t had a large number of them this year,” Scott said.
“I feel like my swing from the tee to the green is feeling significantly improved than it has for some time and that is something decent for me.”