![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
When quizzed after his round with the Ripper GC captain how much he was enjoying the experience, the New South Welshman said: \u201cIt\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first of seven Australians in action, Smyth is grouped with Kota Koneko and Michael Thornjorns and will tee off at 5.47pm AEST and said he cannot wait for the experience after missing the cut in his first Open back in 2023.<\/p>\n
The Australian Order of Merit winner, who won the Japan-Australasia Championship earlier this year, said <\/p>\n
\u201cThe nerves are definitely there but I am probably more excited than I am nervous, but I just can\u2019t wait,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe atmosphere is amazing. The weather is good. The vibes are good. I have had a pretty good look at it … and the course is incredible. It is really firm, which we all like. The golf course asks so much precision of you. You have to hit some really quality shots if you want to play well around here. It is a great championship golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first time Smyth played a British Open, he shot a hole-in-one. But he understands he needs to take another step if he is to make the cut and contend on the weekend at the course in Southport, which is about 25km north of Liverpool.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still feel like I have got a lot to prove as I haven\u2019t played well in majors on this stage yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have played well at my Australian tour, Asian tour level, but in terms of this world stage, I am yet to put my name out there and put my hand up. I want to play well. I don\u2019t want to put too much pressure on myself, but I excited for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Day, meanwhile, spent a significant time on the range on Wednesday before playing a handful of holes as he prepares to return to major golf after missing the US Open with a back problem.<\/p>\n
The former world No.1 spent a lot of time on the range on Tuesday honing his short game and told The Open live that while it had not been an ideal year from an injury front, his desire to push himself had not diminished.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this year has been a bit unfortunate with my body. I have struggled with it a little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still getting that behind me (but) I feel good about it. It is tough when you are sore. It is mentally exhausting. As an athlete … you are really hard on yourself because you want to compete. You get very emotional … and you can beat yourself up pretty good. It can hurt your confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Day of Australia takes a drink as he walks up the 6th fairway during a practice round for the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jon Super)Source: AP<\/p>\n
Adorned in a camouflage-themed outfit on Tuesday, Day said he looked at players in the 40s including Adam Scott and Justin Rose with admiration but felt that he still had something in the tank, despite his injury concerns.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old, who tees off at 6.47pm alongside Justin Thomas and Alex Noren, finished tied for 2nd in the 2023 British Open and said he had grown to love links golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously great to be here (and) we don\u2019t have to battle rain and wind … for once, which is nice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two events that I typically come early too and that is the Masters and this one. This one is because I am trying to get on the sleep schedule, but also because I just enjoy links golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start of my career, I despised links golf, just because my game was better suited to the American style of golf. I enjoyed that type of golf but coming here over the years, I have really learned to love this style of golf. There are so many aspects of the game that you need to get right before you come to this style of golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Day of Australia plays off the 7th tee during a practice round for the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jon Super)Source: AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Little wonder Travis Smyth had a smile as wide as the Luna Park face as he strolled the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-803269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}