SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 12, 2022

Cameron Smith

Waialae Country Club

Press Conference

John Bush: We'd like to welcome Cam Smith to the Sony Open in Hawai'i, coming off last week's win. If we can get some thoughts on that win and how you turn it around so quick and try to go at it again.

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, obviously great week in Maui. Golf game felt really good obviously coming down the stretch there with one of the best golfers in the world. To match up with him was something I'll never forget. Yeah, just really looking forward to this week. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were there, so yeah, it's flying but I'm ready for tomorrow.

JOHN BUSH: How much are you wanting to get right back at it or do you sort of look at this week as, hey, I won last week, I'll let it go this week? What's your thought process.

CAMERON SMITH: I had Monday off. I was just really tired. Did a little bit of work Tuesday and then the Pro-Am now. So I haven't done a ton of work. I'll probably do a little bit more putting and stuff this afternoon, but yeah, I'm ready to get back into it.

JOHN BUSH: Speaking of this morning, you just played a nine-hole Pro-Am, maybe one of the fastest nine holes of your life. Talk about the golf course and also about playing with Mark Wahlberg.

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, the golf course is great. Probably just a little bit softer than we usually play it. The greens are perfect. We had a great time out there this morning. Obviously Mark was a really good lad. We had some laughs. Yeah, one much my best Pro-Am experiences I think ever.

Q. One of the big parts of last week was your putting and I understand you have a prototype putter. Can you run me through what you're using and how that's working for you?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I actually put it in the bag this tournament last year. So it's its birthday, I guess, this week. But yeah, it's a Scottie. It's a 009M. It's got a little slant neck on it. I don't know, the putter I used beforehand just had that neck and I just like the way it felt and got the boys at Scottie Cameron to make one up and just felt in love with it.

Q. Looking also, might I say, looking as fit as you have in a while. Are you in the off-season doing a little bit more work.

CAMERON SMITH: A little bit more work. Probably dieting a little bit better than what I had been. Just wanted to get a little bit fitter. It worked last week. Obviously that's a tough walk around there. I felt like I handled it really good. Yeah, something I definitely need to keep working on.

Q. Was that a conscious thing to do more gym work and trim down and bulk up a little bit as well?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, it was just something that I needed to do. I'm not getting any younger. I know I'm still only 28, but I need to start looking after my body and I need to start putting the right stuff in it as well.

Q. You talked about last week, how driving was so important and how you the got it under control. This week it's even more of a premium. How important is it to be confident in it coming to a course that's more of a demand?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, that's one of the hardest weeks on Tour to hit the fairways, especially with how firm they get over the weekend. So yeah, it feels good to be confident with the driver. There's lot of 3-woods and iron shots as well, so yeah, it's a tricky little place, this one, but I love it.

Q. Talked about last week that it reminds you of home growing up. What is it specifically that reminds you of home back in Australia?

CAMERON SMITH: I think just how flat it is. The course I grew up on was really flat and the grass we played off is almost identical. So yeah, I feel really confident around the greens here as well.

Q. Hawai'i always has Australian athletes who do really well as pros when they come over here or just student athletes who go to the Universities. What is it about Hawai'i that reminds Australians of home or why they like coming here?

CAMERON SMITH: I just think how laid back it is, obviously we've got a lot of coastal towns as well and spend a lot of time on the beach. I think that has got something to do with it, and the weather as well. The people here are so nice. I seem to get along with everyone here, and I just love it.

Q. Bryson and Mark Wahlberg had gotten together and discussed fitness. Do you have any of those kind of conversations?

CAMERON SMITH: No. It was a really fun group to be honest. We played for fun with each other the whole way around. It was really good fun. No chats about fitness or golf. It was just all the usual other stuff.

Q. Maybe you got a couple weeks like this last week, but in terms of your off-season and some of the things that you did coming into this year, having a tournament now under your belt, how do you feel like those off-season adjustment were able to help you last week?

CAMERON SMITH: I think the biggest thing was the driver. I mean, I just practiced a little bit more with my driver to be honest. There's a few technical things that we didn't really need to change. They just needed to be cleaned up a little bit. Yeah, just felt really comfortable with the driver. That was definitely the biggest help last week.

Q. When you say practice more, like what is the driver routine?

CAMERON SMITH: Well, I'm not really the hardest practicer in the world, so I used to get through my wedges and irons and then be like, oh, I'm all right, I'll just go home and hit one or two drives and jump in the car and go home. Just actually spent ten or 15 minutes on it every day, and yeah, worked out.

Q. I know everybody is different when it comes to the practice and the mentality. You say you're not going to be out there all day long grinding, but how much does that help you, get what you need and get out and play? Where does that come from?

CAMERON SMITH: I guess I've always kind of grew up with the mentality, if it's not broken, don't fix it. If everything is all working, just do what you need to do, get comfortable and go do something else and relax and get your mind and body right for Thursday.

Q. Do you have any other equipment changes this season or anything that's different?

CAMERON SMITH: The new wedges, so they were in my locker last week, and yeah, that was the only other change.

Q. Throw this at you. If the International Team were to win the Presidents Cup, would you commit to shaving your mullet?

CAMERON SMITH: No.

Q. You're going to keep that thing forever?

CAMERON SMITH: I don't think forever but for the time being it hanging in.

Q. Still the lucky charm?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think so.

JOHN BUSH: Question that was sent in, have you raised expectations for yourself at this point?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I've never really wanted to expect anything of myself. I've always been a process kind of guy. I feel like if I tick all the boxes I'm going to play some good golf. Yeah for sure I definitely want to play well but I never really expect too much of myself.

Q. You did hit a few goals of yours last week by winning and getting into the top 10. When will you sit down and reassess? Will you pick another number in the top 10? Will you try to go for top five, X amount of wins or just play?

CAMERON SMITH: I think just play for the time being. I haven't had a lot of time to obviously process it at the moment. Maybe in a week or two, I'll be able to sit down and really go through some stuff and yeah, definitely set some more goals.

Q. You mentioned before, isn't it important to you to back up last week with your best performance? In the past you've had your wins and -- is it a conscious thing, bring your best as best as you can?

CAMERON SMITH: I think just being obviously in the past, I've learned a lot from that, just being contend and not really ticking all the boxes like I said before. Yeah, there's some to be conscious of. Yeah, I'm definitely going to definitely learn from that.