Cameron Smith proves a point in Chicago
Cameron Smith holes the winning putt to win by three – photo LIV Golf Getty Images
Cameron Smith, in just his second appearance in the LIV Golf series, has defeated has defeated Peter Uilhein and Dustin Johnson by three shots to earn the US$4 million winner’s cheque at the event at Rich Harvest Farms outside of Chicago and, in addition, has helped his team of Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby and himself into a share of 3rd place.
Smith took a two shot lead over Johnson into the final round and although self admittedly not at his best, his round of 69 which included birdies at his last two holes saw him retain and extend his 36 hole lead.
Smith has now won just over US$5 million in individual earnings in the two events he has played plus a little extra for he and his team.
“I think it was quite frustrating at the start of the day,” said Smith of his early play in round tree. “My warmup wasn’t fantastic. I didn’t feel like I was striking the ball as well as I had the first couple of days.
“I just kind of stuck in there. There was a couple of really poor shots off the tee that led to a couple of really soft bogeys on quite easy holes, especially that start where you want to get off to a pretty hot start.
Yeah, so it was frustrating, but just stuck in there good.”
Smith suggested he felt he had a point to prove with the switch of tours. “I think probably that first event was the most pressure I’ve been under all year inside of an event.
“I feel as though I needed to prove to myself and probably more so to other people that just because I’ve changed tours doesn’t mean I’m a worse player for it. I’m still out here to win. That’s what we’re all here for. Hopefully we can keep this going.
Smith was also asked about the feel of wining an event such as this week’s compared to those in which he has played to date where established histories are involved.
“I think for sure there is a history aspect that is for certain missing, but it doesn’t mean that the tournament is a bad tournament because of it.
“There’s 48 of the best guys out here trying to compete and trying to win. In 10, 20 years’ time, these could be the biggest events in the world. We’re just not there yet.”
