Cameron Smith has had his most memorable year in the game, with achievements including winning the Players Championship and the 150th Open at St Andrews, which helped propel him to a career-high World No.2
After that, he opted for a move to LIV Golf, where It didn’t take him long to make an impact in the Greg Norman-fronted venture, as he won the individual event in only his second tournament in Chicago.
This week, he is in Australia for the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. Before that, though, his year got even better when he was handed the keys to his home city of Brisbane. He said: “Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d get the keys to the city. I thought it was for important people, not golfers.”
Smith became the 52nd person to receive the honour, but the first from the golf world. It is a fitting return to Australia for Smith, who has had to avoid visiting his home country in recent years due to Covid restrictions. However, he didn’t travel back there empty-handed. He also brought with him the famous Claret Jug he won in July. Smith explained that the reaction of fans seeing it has been extraordinary. He said: “It’s insane. It’s like they’ve seen a ghost the first time they’ve seen it. I don’t want to give it back. I want to keep hanging onto it.”
Smith has craved a return to Australia for some time and cited the opportunity to play there as one of the reasons he joined LIV Golf in August. Recently, Adelaide was revealed as Australian city that would host a 2023 LIV Golf tournament, but Smith would like a tournament in his native Queensland in the future. He said: “If I had my way, I’d love an event here in Queensland. If it’s anywhere in Australia at the moment, it’s going to be well received. The welcoming of LIV Golf in Australia has been really positive. I can’t wait for Adelaide, but hopefully in the future we can get one in Queensland somewhere.”
While that ambition is for the future, in the short term, Smith is looking for his third win in the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship having won it in successive years in 2017 and 2018.
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