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<\/p>\nWith his major exemptions running down and his LIV Golf future up in the air, perennial crowd favourite Cam Smith returns home with a new coach, a new perspective and plenty to prove.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Basketball legend Michael Jordan said it best when he preached: \u201cI\u2019ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I\u2019ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I\u2019ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I\u2019ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Smith could do worse than to pin that quote on his bedroom wall or make it his ringtone. There was a time, not so long ago, when Smith didn\u2019t need to prove anything to anyone, let alone himself. He was the guy you wanted with a putter in his hands when everything was on the line. The scruffy Queenslander with the mullet and the unshakeable confidence who could turn a mediocre ball-striking day into a leaderboard charge because his short game was so good it seemed almost unfair. In 2022, it all came together. The 33-year-old won the Players Championship before jetting off to St Andrews to win the 150th Open Championship, becoming a major champion on the most famous piece of linksland in the world. He then came home and won the Australian PGA Championship for a third time. Oh, and he signed up for a new men\u2019s tour called LIV Golf.<\/p>\n
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\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
That controversial little move made Smith one of the most talked-about \u2013 and wealthiest \u2013 golfers on the planet and would change the trajectory of his career, which, at the time, was bordering on stratospheric. Such are the vagaries of sport, power and money. While there were team victories with his all-conquering Aussie Ripper GC team, enormous paydays and plenty of noise around the sport\u2019s fractured men\u2019s pro landscape, somewhere along the way, something else became increasingly difficult to ignore: Cam Smith stopped looking quite like Cam Smith. That isn\u2019t to say he disappeared. He hasn\u2019t. There have been flashes of brilliance, particularly with Ripper GC, and nobody with Smith\u2019s magical touch becomes an ordinary golfer overnight. But the individual results have not consistently matched the standards he set for himself in 2022, as high and perhaps unattainable as those standards were. Ball-striking has been a constant battle, the runs of brilliance have become less frequent, making cuts has been hard to come by and the short game that once seemed capable of rescuing almost anything has, at times, been asked to do exactly that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe correlation would be that he has played not as well over the past couple of years since he went [to LIV Golf],\u201d fellow Open champion and Aussie legend Ian Baker-Finch said at Augusta National earlier this year. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a matter of, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m comfortable here, I\u2019m not practising as hard, I don\u2019t care anymore.\u2019 A lot of people have insinuated that and, in Cam\u2019s defence, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baker-Finch, like many, is adamant Smith \u201cis still a world-class player\u201d capable of returning to the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t lose your talent. The talent doesn\u2019t go away. You just have to rekindle the confidence and the self-belief,\u201d Baker-Finch added. \u201cHe could have, should have won the [2025] Australian Open, so it\u2019s not like he\u2019s not playing well; it\u2019s just not making the cuts in the majors, not performing. That is the hardest thing. Just deep down in your own mind, you feel so bad about your performance. I know the feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s drop-off in form could go a long way to explaining his standing with Australian Golf Digest readers. Of the 8,000 respondents in our 2026 Reader Survey, just 21.5 percent named Smith their favourite Australian male golfer, placing him third behind Min Woo Lee (29.2 percent) and Adam Scott (28.9 percent). Hardly controversial, yet it\u2019s a notable change from 2022, when Smith would have sat comfortably at No.1 off the back of his PGA Tour supremacy and reaching world No.2.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the upcoming Australian summer of golf. The BMW Australian PGA Championship will be played at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from November 26-29, and Smith arrives with a chance to do something that would add another remarkable chapter to his homecoming \u2013 win a fourth Joe Kirkwood Cup. Only five players in the tournament\u2019s history have reached that mark: Dan Soutar, Norman von Nida, Bill Dunk, Robert Allenby and six-time champ Kel Nagle<\/p>\n
More importantly, Smith returns to a tournament that has been intertwined with the best version of himself. The last time he won the Australian PGA, he was also showcasing the claret jug on his Aussie roadshow and was even given the keys to the city in his native Brisbane. Four years later, the circumstances could hardly be more contrasting.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s five-year major exemptions from his 2022 Open Championship victory are entering their final stretch, except for his free pass into The Open until he\u2019s 60, as a past champion. That makes the next period of his career more than a question of form. It is about access. For a player who has spent much of his career measuring himself against the best fields in the world, the ability to get into the biggest tournaments cannot be taken for granted forever. And there is another uncertainty hanging over everything: LIV Golf itself. At the time of print, the league\u2019s future, format and place within the wider professional game remain subjects of constant speculation as its Chapter 11 court proceedings play out. Who will stay, who will go? Could Cam be done with it all and walk away like Jon Rahm?<\/p>\n
Although the criteria set forth by the PGA Tour\u2019s Returning Player Program in January included the 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year, Smith chose to remain with LIV Golf for the 2026 season. Speaking to Australian Golf Digest\u2019s Evin Priest in late September for a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, Smith said of LIV Golf 2.0: \u201cWe don\u2019t have all the answers. It\u2019s hard to make a decision [on staying with LIV].\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Smith\u2019s initial uncertainty, sources told Australian Golf Digest that Smith had formally requested a release from his LIV Golf contract at the ongoing bankruptcy hearings in New Jersey. LIV was said to have asked for an additional week to review Smith\u2019s request. Wherever he ends up playing in 2027, Smith\u2019s power to pull an Aussie crowd is not lost on Australian PGA Championship organisers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to welcome Cam back to the BMW Australian PGA Championship,\u201d says PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman. \u201cHe has achieved so much in the game and the way he continues to support Australian golf and our events means a great deal to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cCam has created some incredible memories at this championship, including multiple Kirkwood Cup victories. I\u2019m sure our golf fans in Sydney will be at The Lakes in their thousands to watch him in action in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
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BRINGING IN THE BIG GUNS<\/p>\n
The irony is that Smith\u2019s individual game may matter more now than it has since he left the PGA Tour. The better he plays, the fewer questions there are. Perhaps that is why his decision to change coaches in May this year was so interesting.<\/p>\n
For almost three decades, Grant Field was Smith\u2019s golf teacher. Brisbane-based Field had been there since Smith was nine years old. He helped build the swing that eventually produced a Players Championship, an Open Championship and three Australian PGA titles. Changing coaches, then, wasn\u2019t a cosmetic decision. Smith brought in world-renowned American instructor Claude Harmon III. Harmon, son of legendary coach Butch Harmon, has worked with some of the best players in the world, but his approach with Smith appears to have been remarkably simple: take things away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen players struggle, they\u2019ve got a lot of swing thoughts in their head,\u201d Harmon said during the Open Championship\u2019s \u201cLive At The Range\u201d broadcast in July. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to play when you\u2019re trying to do five, six things in a golf swing that\u2019s over in a second-and-a-half.\u201d<\/p>\n
That observation might explain more about Smith\u2019s current rebuild than any number of swing-analysis screenshots. Harmon\u2019s assessment was that Smith\u2019s greatest strength had never really gone anywhere. His short game and putting remained his \u201csuperpower\u201d. The problem was that his ball-striking wasn\u2019t consistently giving that superpower enough opportunity to take over.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I just felt if we could get the club in a little bit better position and get the ball-striking a little bit better, his superpower could take over,\u201d Harmon said. That is the essence of the rebuild \u2013 not reinventing Smith but freeing him up.<\/p>\n
Harmon identified a tendency for Smith\u2019s club to get too far inside during the takeaway, which could leave the club across the line at the top. The solution has been deliberately uncomplicated. Smith is working on keeping the club more in front of him going back, creating more structure at the top and then allowing himself to swing left and more freely through impact. It sounds technical but the goal is anything but.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got rid of the fog a little bit,\u201d Smith admits. That might have been the most revealing line of the entire interview because this isn\u2019t about building a prettier golf swing. It is about getting Smith to stop playing golf swing and start playing golf again.<\/p>\n
Harmon\u2019s priority has been contact. That sounds almost insultingly basic for a player of Smith\u2019s calibre, but Harmon believes it is the foundation of everything that follows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re not hitting it good, even the best players in the world struggle with what we all struggle with: strike, contact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
So, the pair have spent plenty of time on slow-motion rehearsals, drills and practice swings [see swing tip, right]. Then, they take those feels to the course and let the shots tell them what needs work next. The distinction is important. Harmon wants Smith to practise golf on the range and play golf on the course, not carry a six-point swing checklist around with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to subtract the swing thoughts so he can just go fly the plane without trying to think so much about how he\u2019s flying the plane,\u201d Harmon said.<\/p>\n
It is a wonderfully simple way of describing a complicated problem. The hard part, of course, is getting immediate results to justify the switch. Smith is hoping that comes this month in a tournament again co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a highlight of the year to compete on home soil,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThe home fans really get behind us and the events we have. It\u2019ll be interesting seeing the tournament in Sydney and especially at The Lakes, which is such a good test of golf. If the winds get up, it can be a very testing place to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
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SAME CAM, JUST MORE ON HIS PLATE<\/p>\n
There is another part of the Cam Smith story that can\u2019t be measured on a launch monitor and has been so often overlooked by his critics. Through this little down period, he did become a dad. That changes the rhythm of a professional athlete\u2019s life in ways that are difficult to quantify, particularly for someone whose career has always demanded travel, practice, competition and long periods away from home. It doesn\u2019t automatically explain a dip in form. Nor should fatherhood become a convenient excuse for poor golf. But it does change the equation, substantially.<\/p>\n
The 2022 version of Cam Smith was able to devote himself almost entirely to being one of the world\u2019s best golfers. The Cam Smith of 2026 has a different life, not least one with lawyers, creditors lists and a rapidly evolving employment situation. There are different priorities, different responsibilities and, crucially, different demands on his time and attention. Perhaps that makes the question facing him now even more interesting: can he find a way to become obsessed with golf again without needing golf to be everything?<\/p>\n
Despite what critics say, the LIV version of Smith has been successful. Ripper GC has topped the podium and enjoyed its share of champagne showers. Smith remains one of the most recognisable athletes in Australian
sport. His decision to join LIV changed his financial future forever. But individual golfers are still judged by individual golf, and Smith knows better than most that his career has, and always will, be defined by moments. The putt around the bunker on the 17th at St Andrews. The final-round charge at TPC Sawgrass. The Australian PGA celebrations shared with friends and family. Those are the moments that made him a superstar, and they haven\u2019t been forgotten. More importantly, they haven\u2019t convinced everyone that his best days are behind him.<\/p>\n
Both Ian Baker-Finch and Claude Harmon III believe there is more to come. Harmon isn\u2019t trying to turn Smith into somebody else. He\u2019s trying to strip away the clutter and rediscover the instinctive brilliance that made him one of the best players in the world. And if there\u2019s a place to find out whether that work is beginning to pay off, it\u2019s The Lakes: a course that, when the wind gets up, demands precision, imagination and a little bit of magic. Smith has supplied all three before. Now comes the question that will define his Australian summer: can he find them again when it matters more than ever?\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Try Claude\u2019s swing tip for Cam<\/p>\n
During the same \u201cLive At The Range\u201d segment at Royal Birkdale in July, Smith was handed a 98-yard wedge challenge. It was, essentially, a test of the thing that has always made Smith so dangerous: feel. His response was telling: \u201cThis for me is a bit of a feel shot,\u201d Smith said. \u201cJust kind of aim and shoot. Not really thinking about too much here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hit it to 12 feet.<\/p>\n
Harmon then explained another part of the rebuild: using shorter clubs and feel shots to reinforce the new movement without overloading Smith with technical information.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the first move is getting Cam to go to that first position [in the backswing] and pause, trying to feel like the clubhead stays outside his hands because the tendency was for the club to get a little bit on the inside, then going up, it gets across the line and trying to get back down,\u201d Harmon said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re trying to have him feel like he keeps the club in front of him going back and then trying to have him keep the club in front. This pausing drill allows him to feel where that backswing needs to be, then feel where that top of backswing should be so then when he goes and speeds up, he doesn\u2019t have to sit. It\u2019s been a combination of these swing drills and then going at full speed and just hitting shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
REMEMBER: Take the club back to a checkpoint, stop, move to the top, stop again, then hit the shot. Repeat. Make sure the clubhead stays outside your hands the whole time.<\/p>\n
Photographs by getty images\/Michael Miller, justin casterlin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With his major exemptions running down and his LIV Golf future up in the air, perennial crowd favourite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,6409,755,503359,85],"class_list":["post-936718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cam-smith","tag-golf","tag-november-2026","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936718","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=936718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}