MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2022

Cameron Smith

Butler Cabin

Q. Take a look at the leaderboard. Scottie Scheffler with the birdie at 17. The new world number one has just tied the lead of Cam Smith, who joins me here in the Butler Cabin.

Cam, you are patiently waiting as we watched a bit of Tiger. You admitted as you're out there, you've got a round to play and quite a round it was, but your attention was caught by the guy in the fuchsia crew neck?

CAMERON SMITH: Absolutely. Bryson and I played in the 2-ball today, so we had plenty of time waiting around. Yeah, you just can't not watch him. It's an inspiration that he is coming back playing golf. Yeah, another good performance by him.

Q. You aspire to be a decent host, so I'll give you the option. Would you prefer to discuss the beginning and the end first, or shall we talk about the middle? Your choice.

CAMERON SMITH: The middle is perfect.

Q. Let's dive into the middle because you did what you tend to do. String together a bunch of birdies and made a ton of putts. That's just your game in a nutshell. How do you best describe how the round went for the bulk of it?

CAMERON SMITH: It was just really solid. Lots of really good iron shots.

Q. 1 was obviously -- this is the start.

CAMERON SMITH: This wind just got up and down, got really gusty all day, and just misjudged a couple of wedges there on the first and the last hole, but the stuff in between was pretty good.

Q. There's quite a nice answer there on 5, and then this tee shot here on the par-three 6. You had three 2s on the card.

CAMERON SMITH: That's always nice. The par threes around here are no snack, but I just felt really comfortable with the irons today.

Q. That is part of the game that's great. I think the wedge game is spectacular. And, again, as we saw, certainly at Sawgrass and again here, you are so comfortable on really any greens. What about these greens get your attention most?

CAMERON SMITH: I generally like to be a pretty creative player, so I love seeing the ball going in the side of the hole, and you get some pretty big breaking putts around here.

Q. Here on 14 as you were --

CAMERON SMITH: This was one of my favorites. That's just my favorite shot. Like a cut wedge, I don't know, there's something about it. I like to see the spin.

Q. You said they're no snack, but you were eating them up. This is the 16.

CAMERON SMITH: This is a good call by my caddie here. He said not to play in the wind, and I didn't get hurt that much and ended up perfect.

Q. There's a lot to love about your game, but you tend to appear unbothered regardless of if it's going incredibly well or if you find a spot of bother, as they say. How much does that reflect how you're feeling? How are you able to sort of project calm at all times?

CAMERON SMITH: I think I just have belief in my game. I know that if I'm playing well, I can make plenty of birdies, and there's 54 holes left out there and plenty of birdie opportunities. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Last quick thought. On balance, given the start and the finish, which we dismissed that, but are you able to be satisfied with 68 at the end of it?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think it was pretty gusty out there today. I probably got away with a couple of pars there. Yeah, any round in the 60s around here is always nice.

Q. No one has ever done it before four in the 60s until you had it. Yet another one to start. Cam, thank you for stopping by. Appreciate that very much.