Cam Smith has ruled out playing extra events outside the majors to try to earn crucial rankings points for Olympic qualification he “desperately” craves, declaring officials “know without knowing” he deserves selection.
But Smith said predetermined qualification criteria put the LIV star at a “disadvantage”, as his ranking continues to slide having missed out on picking up crucial points at the Australian Open and PGA late in 2023 due to unexpected poor showings and no points on offer at LIV events.
The British Open champion was world No.2 when he saluted at St Andrews but has fallen to 35 on the most recent rankings, which makes him the second-highest-ranked Australian behind Jason Day, who has risen to 18 amid his career resurgence and off finishing tied for sixth at Pebble Beach last weekend.
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But Smith is also just four spots ahead of PGA winner Min Woo Lee, who is ranked 38, and he could rise further with a prominent performance at the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open this week.
Fellow Aussie Cam Davis is also back in the world top 50, ranked 47, and both he and Lee have expressed a strong desire to get to the Paris Games.
The pair were among several players fitted out for Olympic uniforms during the Australian Open in Sydney last November.
Smith, who represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics, had previously flagged the possibility to play some Asian Tour events to boost his ranking after getting a small bump when he came second in the Hong Kong Open last year.
But he revealed the first three major championships, which he qualifies for as the British Open winner, will now be his focus for points, with the two-man Australian Olympic team set to be decided by where players are placed on the Official World Golf Rankings on June 17.
The US Open being played at Pinehurst will be the final event before selection for Paris.
“It’s a bit of a disadvantage compared to the other Aussie guys,” Smith told SEN ahead of the second LIV event of the year in Las Vegas, where the golfers are competing for attention with the Super Bowl.
“But really want to be there. I’ll try and prepare as good as I can for those majors.”
Smith said Australian Olympic officials knew their hands were in being unable to pick who they want by the rules, with world rankings set up as the sole qualification criteria for the Games, which could impact other LIV players beyond Smith.
He doubted there would be a change coming to the selection criteria anytime soon despite the obvious need.
“I think they know it without knowing it,” he said.
“But they have already set criteria for that and I am not sure they are going to change it to suit me. We’ll see what happens, but I desperately want to be in Paris.”
Smith could get a lifeline should Day, who chose not to go to the 2016 Rio Games when golf was reintroduced out of fear of the zika virus, pass again.
The 36-year-old has not given an indication about whether he wants to go to Paris.
AUSTRALIAN WORLD RANKINGS (MEN)
18 – Jason Day
35 – Cameron Smith
39 – Min Woo Lee
47 – Cameron Davis
48 – Adam Scott
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