It does not take much to throw a golfer off his groove.
Just ask Cameron Smith, who, through 9 holes during Friday’s second round at the Australian Open, sat at 11-under par overall. He was squarely in the mix, jockeying with fellow Australian Lucas Herbert for the pole position.
But Smith made a mess of things on the back nine, carding a 5-over 41, a stretch that included three bogeys on the 10th, 12th, and 15th holes and a double-bogey on the par-4 16th. This stumble came after officials put Smith’s group on the clock for slow play.
“We got on the clock there and it didn’t seem like we were playing that slow, and it felt like we were just rushing,” Smith said per The Associated Press.
“Made some really poor choices mentally, I think, led to a few bogeys. You, kind of, get on that train in that wind and it’s not a good spot to be in.”
The stiff wind that picked up across the Sand Belt did not help matters either, as plenty of players struggled as the day wore on. But the anxiety of being on the clock made things worse for Smith.
He finished his day at 6-under par and is now eight shots back of Herbert, who now owns a commanding four-shot lead through 36 holes.
Yet, Smith is no stranger to staging strong comebacks. Look no further than the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, where Smith authored one of the greatest final rounds in championship history. He began Sunday’s final round facing a four-shot deficit and went on to make eight birdies and shoot 64, thus stealing the Claret Jug away from the likes of Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland. Smith relied heavily on his putter that day to claim his first major championship.
Perhaps a similar surge will transpire on his home soil this week.
Herbert, who plays with Smith on the same LIV Golf team, expects him to do just that.
“I’m expecting [Smith] to make a run,” Herbert said.
“I can’t shoot 72-72 this weekend and expect to win this golf tournament. There’s a lot of work still to be done.”
Knowing Smith’s caliber as a world-class player, all of Australia—and the golfing world, for that matter—must agree with Herbert’s assessment. But another slow-play warning could prevent him from doing just that. Time will only tell, however.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
