An emotional Cameron Smith could not recall playing a worse round of golf in his professional career and he broke down in tears after crashing out of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on Friday.
Already 10 shots off the lead after Thursday’s first round of 73, defending champion Smith’s title defence went from bad to worse during a horror 18 holes in Brisbane.
Bogeys were piled on top of more bogeys as the hometown hero and tournament drawcard shot an awful seven-over par 78 in a second round that included six bogeys, and a double bogey on the par-four, 443m 10th hole.
The 2022 British Open champion finished the tournament at nine-over par, nine shots behind the cut line of par.
Less than 10 players in the 156-strong field fared worse through the opening two rounds, with Smith finishing a mammoth 21-shots behind the leader, Perth’s Min Woo Lee, who shot a second-round 66 to move to 12-under and one ahead of Adam Scott, who shot 65 on Friday after his first-round 66.
Round 2 WRAP: Scott catches fire but denied wild albatross in crazy stretch as Lee leads and Smith flops
“It’s shit,” he said.
“I’ve performed under pressure before, it’s just unacceptable – it’s very upsetting actually,” a teary Smith said after missing the cut.
“I’m definitely getting a bit tired towards the end of the year but that’s golf, that’s not an excuse.
“Australia’s been so good to me even when I have been tired so there’s no reason to really perform that way.”
When asked if he could remember a worse round during his professional career, the 30-year-old LIV star said “no”.
“I had a really good range season (on Thursday) and I was actually feeling pretty good this morning as well, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t really commit to what I was doing,” he said.
“There were a lot of sneaky pins and I just got on the wrong side a bunch of times, and trying to do a bit too much I think.
“I know what I’m doing, it’s just going out there and committing to something is another thing. It’s very frustrating.”
‘Want it so bad’ Cam burns for Aus Open | 00:51
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Smith is hoping for redemption next week in Sydney at the Australian Open, a title he is yet to win.
“That’s the positive about two weeks in a row – you get a few days to prepare and sort some stuff out,” he said.
“I hope that I can put it together for next week and put up at least a better showing than that.”
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