Cameron Smith, Man of the People, Continues Torrid Play at the Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Striding along the ninth fairway during Thursday’s opening round, Cam Smith stopped literally in his tracks.
Out of the corner of his eye, just 50 paces to his right, he spotted the striking man dressed in a bright pink shirt, black pants and a black hat. And so, as most do when in the presence of Tiger Woods, Smith dropped what he was doing — which was playing a great round of golf at, ahem, the Masters — to admire the 46-year-old, 15-time major champion.
“You can’t not watch him,” Smith said. “He’s unreal.”
Also unreal? Smith’s opening-round 68 — one that featured eight birdies, eight pars and two, book-ending double bogeys. The 28-year-old, mullet-wearing Australian carded a 6 on each of the par-4 first and 18th holes. In between, it was pure bliss: pinpoint accurate iron shots (he hit 14 of 16 greens in regulation), phenomenal drives (10 of 12 in the fairway) and even a chip-in on the par-4 fifth — his first birdie of the day and one that triggered quite a run.
He birdied eight of the next 12 holes, which included all three of the remaining par 3s: the sixth, 12th and 16th.
Smith did it all while one group in front of the main attraction. Like thousands more on the course, he couldn’t resist watching as Woods, 14 months removed from reconstructive leg surgery, fired a 1-under 71. That meant pulling himself away from his own round. So it goes. Smith was a teenager during Woods’ most dominant run — he’s a big fan.
But on this day, Mullet Man bested Big Cat. Smith continues what’s been a sizzling start to his 2022 season. He’s won twice — at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and his last time out, the Players Championship. He’s got two more top-10 finishes, and he’s only missed one of seven cuts.
He’s scorched his way to No. 6 in the World (with a chance this week to reach No. 1), and he’s made more birdies (19) than pars (12) in his last 38 holes.
What gives? A new exercise plan. In fact, after Thursday’s round and despite hiking some 11,000 steps across Augusta National, Smith planned to return home for a 30-minute ride on a stationary bike. His training regimen is part cardio and part weight lifting, illustrated in his thin, wiry build.
“My body moves a little quicker when I don’t have so much around my belly,” he laughs. “I’m able to walk off the golf course and not be wrecked. It’s why my game has gotten consistent.”
Over the last year or so, Smith has endeared himself to America’s golf public. He’s humble, quiet and simple.
He carries with him an every-man style. Like the rest of us, he must work to keep weight off his thin frame. He watches Tiger like us too. And he’s proclaimed in the past that he has few hobbies and doesn’t really know what to do with all the money he makes (he’s cashed about $5.7 million in winnings the last seven months).
That hair style of his is a conversation piece too. The blonde, shoulder-length locks poke from a cropped front. Business in the front, party in the back, some might say.
He frequents his barber about once a month to style the shaggy rear. He’s got it primed and ready for this week.
“It’s probably about the cleanest it’s been in quite a while,” he said.
And so too is his game. No one should be too surprised. At the November 2020 Masters, Smith became the first player in tournament history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s (he finished runner-up, five shots behind Dustin Johnson).
“He’s just built for the big tournaments,” fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy said recently about him. “He’s got to be really full of confidence.”
Smith says he loves the course at Augusta, and he acknowledges that he guessed right a few times in a swirling wind Thursday. More wind is expected Friday. Thankfully, no more rain is in the forecast. Augusta saw torrential downpours for most of the day Tuesday, off and on Wednesday and Thursday morning, but Smith called course conditions “amazing” despite the soaking.
By noon Thursday, the skies cleared, the sun shined and the wind was whipping. It helped give a soggy course some teeth. Smith only felt its bite on No. 1 and 18, where errant tee shots resulted in the pair of doubles.
Oddly enough, one of the best rounds of the day came from the smallest grouping. The Masters groups players in threesomes the first two rounds, but Smith and Bryson DeChambeau played in a twosome after their third, Paul Casey, withdrew due to back issues.
The Smith-DeChambeau twosome played quick enough that they found themselves waiting for the threesome ahead to clear. It gave the Mullet Man plenty of time to watch the Big Cat.
“I almost felt like a patron out there at some points today,” Smith said.
A patron who shot 4-under par.
More Masters Coverage From Morning Read:
- Watch: Can Tiger Really Keep This Up?
- Day 2 Preview: Tigermania Is About to Reach a New Level
- Tiger Woods Dazzles in Front of 'Electric' Crowd
- On Thursday There Was Tiger, and Everyone Else
- Woods's First Round Was Both Vintage and New-Age
- Cam Smith, Man of the People, Is a Man on Fire
- Sungjae Im Leads After Thursday Unlike Any Other
- Varner Soaks In First Round at Augusta National
- Round 2 Tee Times: Tiger Woods to Tee Off at 1:41 ET