PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 19, 2022

Cameron Smith

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills. We are pleased to be joined by Cameron Smith who had a 2-under par 68 today. Really caught some good heat in your back nine today. What changed? When did the script flip? How did you ride it in.

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I guess it did kind of change there; just a little bit of a mental reset. Felt as though I've played some pretty good golf on my front nine, but unfortunately a couple times with gusts of wind and stuff like that, yeah, you can make some pretty quick bogeys and doubles around here if you're not careful.

Yeah, just took that into account, a quick mental reset, and I knew I was hitting the ball well; just need to go out there and do it.

Q. If that was around where you left a few out there, do you feel you can keep going further up the leaderboard this week?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think so. I really like the golf course. I hit my driver really good today, which freed me up into the greens, and was able to make a few birdies there on the back nine.

Yeah, just need to keep hitting fairways. My irons and putting feels really good, just keep those birdie looks coming.

Q. Does the humidity remind you of home in Brisbane?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, a little bit. It's like a summer's morning in Brisbane. It's actually quite nice, quite a nice change. I love playing in this stuff. I've felt like we've played in cold the last six months, so I'm ready for summer.

Q. You said you gave yourself a mental reset; can you run me through the process of exactly when that was and what you said to yourself?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, it wasn't much really, just a drink of water and just basically said to myself, start over.

Like I said, my game felt really good. The scorecard said otherwise, but yeah, I knew I had a few birdies in me that back nine, and it all just came together.

Q. What gives you more hope going forward, the fact that you lead the field in strokes gained approach at the moment or the fact that you were able to rally from adversity?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think it was -- it's nice to get through that stuff early in the week. I think it was definitely one of those rounds that could have got away from me quite quickly. Another couple over on that back nine, I'm probably out of the golf tournament. So nice to rally.

Yeah, irons feel great. Just need to keep doing what I'm doing and hit that driver on the fairway.

Q. What's the highlight in that early birdie run on the front?

CAMERON SMITH: Probably the first hole. I holed probably a nice 15-footer. It was just nice to see a putt go in. I think that really just got the head freed up a little bit and was able to play golf like I want to play that back nine.

Yeah, I think just seeing that putt go in, I think I hit a lot of good putts, and yeah, not much went in that front nine.

Q. Is it amazing sometimes how one putt like that can just set a new tone, different mindset?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I guess you start seeing things a little bit differently on the greens. Like I said, just really freed me up.

Q. How about the wind? Was it all day for you or did it jump up this afternoon?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, it was pretty much all day. It probably jumped up a little bit consistently towards the end, but it was gusty all day. The gusts were quite hard to judge.

Yeah, hit a few shots that really got hit by wind and a couple that looked like it went straight through it. I think you'll be seeing a lot of that the rest of the week to be honest.