MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 3, 2023

Cameron Smith

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Pleased to be joined in the interview room by Cameron Smith.

Cam, welcome back to the Masters. Last year was a great year in your golfing career, particularly winning The Open Championship. You have contended in four of the raft five Masters, including three top five finishes. What is it about Augusta National that suits your game?

CAMERON SMITH: I think it reminds me of home in many different ways, I guess. It allows me to be creative, the firmness and fastness of the greens reminds me a lot of the Sandbelt area and just good memories, I think. I haven't really had a bad week here in a pretty long time.

Yeah, so I'm just really looking forward to getting back out there and seeing the new changes. I haven't seen those yet. I just arrived this morning. So yeah, looking forward to another great week.

Q. Do you remember much or can you think back to when you came into this tournament last year, what you felt like the state of your game was arriving here and then compared to this year?

CAMERON SMITH: It was probably a little bit better than what it feels like at the moment to be honest. I remember not last year, the year before, having a pretty big off-season as well. I didn't really spend much time in Australia. I did a lot of hard work in Ponte Vedra and really sorted out a lot of stuff with my thing that I thought needed fixing for a long time and used that time to get better, and it paid off earlier in the season. I was in contention a few times before the tournament was nice, and then came here and had another really good week.

I think the other thing for me is coming back to this place where I've had so many good memories, hit so many good shots. A lot of times, I've come in not feeling so good with my game and it's kind of springboarded me into kind of a nice rest of the season.

So I'm kind of hoping that that happens again this year. It hasn't really been the nicest start for me. I had a big off-season in Australia and spent a lot of time with family and friend and just haven't quite got back to 100 percent yet. Like I said, I feel like this place is really comfy for me.

Q. Would you normally get here on a Monday morning?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, typically I would drive up on a Sunday afternoon and probably play some holes. Given we played last week, didn't have that luxury. Spent last night washing some clothes and drying some clothes and then coming up this morning. So yeah, just doing a little bit of practice. I feel like I've played this course enough physically and a million times in my head, yeah.

Q. The biggest change off the course since your first, and now your seventh appearance?

CAMERON SMITH: I haven't been out there this year. I know the 13th tee...

Q. Other than the ones on the course. Biggest change from when you first came to now.

CAMERON SMITH: Personally, it's probably just how comfortable I feel. I feel like the first time I came here, it wasn't really I guess a nice experience. I was a young kid, didn't really feel like I belonged out here, and I feel like now I show up and I'm ready to go win this thing.

Q. How different does it feel being here as a LIV player, playing on a different tour in terms of the preparation and opportunities that it's given you, but in terms of the current state of golf at the moment and the kind of conversations that have been going on all year?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think before last year's Masters Tournament, I played four times. I played four times this year. I don't think I've necessarily played less before the tournament. I think it's more to do with my preparation before I started up.

I feel like I'm tournament-ready. It's just I've got a few tweaks here and there to do, and like I said before, I feel like this course made me find some of those things, and it just comes naturally.

I spent probably an hour out on the range already this afternoon. It was good to see some familiar faces. Lots of laughs and lots of handshakes, and it was really nice. I really wasn't sure what I was going to expect walking on to the range but it was good to see some familiar faces and lot of smiles.

Q. And just to follow up, can you shed any light on the conversations that have been had amongst the LIV players that are going to be here in terms of potentially a joint celebration Sunday night behind the 18th green?

CAMERON SMITH: There definitely hasn't been a conversation with me. If there was one, I definitely got left out of that one (laughter).

I'm not sure what's going to happen, mate, I guess we'll see how the week unfolds. For sure I'd love to see one of us guys get up to the top of the leaderboard and really give it a nice shot.

Q. As you've gained experience around here, can you explain how when you assess to take chances on this golf course and how much that balance as changed from the beginning to your most recent start here?

CAMERON SMITH: I think for me, it's about letting the golf course almost open itself up to you. It's never really a golf course where you can go out and try and make birdies. I think that's maybe been a part of my game, especially this year, where I feel like I played so good last year, had such a good year, the expectation was really quite high.

Then you go out there and you try to make stuff happen, rather than just letting it come to you. I feel like you have to be really patient around here. I for sure think there's some second shots to some given pins out on those greens where you have to be quite cautious, and I think the golf course offers, especially under a bit of a softer ground, I think it offers a lot of birdie chances as well.

Q. When you look back to last July, obviously winning The Open was a pinnacle accomplishment and highest profile point in your career and I know you've been very obviously dialed in and immersed in LIV but at this point now as you step away, do you feel at all because you're not seen as much and LIV is not as -- obviously as big as the TOUR, is there any concern about not being as relevant in the world stage and if you even care about that?

CAMERON SMITH: I think for me, I'm just trying to play the best golf I can. For me it's frustration when I'm playing like this on any tour. As the LIV Tour grows and the fields get deeper and stronger and all that stuff unfolds, it's just going to be better and better. I can't wait to see it unfold personally.

Q. Brooks was saying last night how he misses playing against the likes of Rory and the guys; is that a feeling you share? Do you ever watch the TOUR and think, wish I was playing?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, for sure there's been a couple of tournaments that I really have enjoyed in the past that I feel like I've missed out on. But at the same time, I've made my bed and I'm happy, very, very happy where I am. I'm happy to sleep in the bed I'm in basically.

Q. You don't miss playing against the other guys?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I do miss certain tournaments, certain golf courses. I'm looking forward to this week playing against the guys for sure. But I don't know if I necessarily miss playing against any certain guys.

Q. You talked about the hugs and handshakes and whatnot when you walked on to the range. What were you expecting?

CAMERON SMITH: I wasn't really sure to be honest. Yeah, I was just kind of letting it all kind of happen naturally. Went out on to the range and did my stuff, and did my work and yeah, it was just a really nice experience. I don't know -- I didn't want to expect too much but at the same time, I kind of wanted that, not only for myself but just for the game of golf. I think there's a lot of stuff going on at the moment that doesn't need to be going on, especially in the media. I think it's definitely wound up a little bit too much.

Q. Secondly, when you talked about hoping to see some LIV players up there on the leaderboard just like I'm sure you'd like to see whoever your mates are previously up there, why do you think that's -- or do you think it's important that there are LIV golfers up there high on the leaderboard Sunday, and if so, why?

CAMERON SMITH: I think it's just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we need to be up there. I think there's a lot of chatter about these guys don't play real golf; these guys don't play real golf courses. For sure, I'll be the first one to say, the fields aren't as strong. I'm the first one to say that.

But we've still got a lot of guys up there that can play some really serious golf, and we compete against each other hard week-in and week-out and we're trying to do the same things that we did six months ago. It's nice. It's a good feeling to have that competition, and it's good to see Brooks win last week. He's playing some really good golf again.

Yeah, I think we just need a good, strong finish.

Q. Can you describe your feelings and mindset on the first tee and how that can change from Thursday to potentially Sunday?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, this is probably one of the tournaments for me where I get the most nervous, I guess. I think that first tee just the crowd, the atmosphere you get around here is unlike anywhere else. Just gives me goosebumps thinking about it.

Come Thursday, and then Sunday is almost a different monster when you are stepping up with a lead or in contention. You really have to learn how to control all those emotions. To be honest for me, once I hit that first tee shot, I generally calm down a little bit and can really start to see the round unfold. But you know, that half an hour before is -- yeah, it's not nice. But it's something you look forward to.

Q. Obviously you wear the maroon on Sundays because you take a lot of inspiration from Origin. Can you caught many rugby games this season, the Broncos?

CAMERON SMITH: The Broncos are going pretty good this year, actually. It's good to see. I think the boys are playing too early over here. They are generally playing at about 4:00am, 5:00am. So I get up and don't check the phone and just rewatch the game. Yeah, they are playing really good footy. It's really nice to see.

Q. Just to expand on one of your earlier answers, you said you think a little bit too much is being made around the sort of LIV narrative. Could you just build on that and sort of tell me specifically what it is you think?

CAMERON SMITH: I just think there's too much rubbish going on, basically. For me, like I said out there, I spent an hour out there and seen lots of familiar faces, lots of smiles and hugs, and it's been nice. I don't think there's any kind of hatred going on between the players. We are all happy where we are, and I'm just as happy for the guys winning out on the PGA TOUR as I am for the LIV golfers, as well.

Q. Just one on the logos, obviously it gets attention when the LIV guys wear the logos. Is that a contractual obligation to wear them?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, basically. You know, for me personally, I have another set of clothes made up this week without them. We haven't really heard much from Augusta National about the logos, and for me personally, I'm really proud of where I'm at and what I'm doing. Unless it's a problem for these guys, I'm going to wear it.

Q. So did you bring the unmarked clothes with you?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah.

Q. And just wait for a tap on the shoulder and get told to get changed?

CAMERON SMITH: Basically, yeah.

Q. When you talk about how you were received on the range, were you concerned that if it had not gone that way, would you have considered yourself distracted? Would it have bothered you?

CAMERON SMITH: I'm not really sure. That's a bit of a hypothetical question. I'm really happy with how it's going at the moment. I don't know how the rest of the week is going to unfold. I haven't really seen much of the crowd. That's another thing of thing for me.

But, you know, Augusta National is first class, and that's what we kind of expected this week.

Q. How much of THE PLAYERS Championship did you watch?

CAMERON SMITH: Probably a few holes. I spent most of the weekend kind of hanging out with mates and we did a little bit of fishing. It was nice; all the residents seemed to be at the golf course, so we had the water to ourselves. It was kind of nice (laughter).

Q. Last year was obviously competitively very, very special for you. By your own admission this year, not going quite that well. I wonder if you have reflected on at all what you did last year that might be missing this year?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I think it's easy to get caught up in that stuff. I've always been kind of a process, I guess, kind of person, getting to the golf course, getting in the gym, just ticking the boxes and making sure I'm better every day. I think, you know, like I said before, I had probably a bit too much time off at end of the year.

You know, things are feeling good. They just haven't quite meshed. I feel like I've had weeks where I've hit the driver really well, which is, you know, a pretty rare thing for me. And then you know, haven't had the best short game week, and then other weeks, you've had a really good short game week and you've missed a few fairways.

Yeah, it's just about putting all that stuff together, and like I said before, I feel like this is a place where it kind of comes pretty naturally for me. But yeah, we'll just kind of see how it goes.

Q. I want to ask you, in many ways, where your current tour is, how challenging is it for you to kind of keep in touch with your best golf and try to keep it going, while the competition on that tour may not be commensurate to your talents?

CAMERON SMITH: I think the competition's there. I just don't think it's as deep. Like I said before, we have lots of good guys that have won lots of really prestigious tournaments, majors. There's definitely lot of guys that keep you on your toes, and I don't think that's a problem. I think I'm just not playing really good golf at the moment, and I'm trying to fix that.

Q. Anything specific you're working on at the moment?

CAMERON SMITH: For me, the swing feels really good at the moment. The short stuff feels really, really nice. I'm just working on kind of getting a little bit more creative, hitting some different shots into the greens. I feel like I've been maybe a little bit too much -- too one-dimensional for a lot of the time this year, and you know, I think that gets back to just kind of being comfortable out on the golf course and really feeling like all your stuff is there, and it just hasn't quite clicked. You know, this place for me is -- I feel like I have to be creative. To get to some of those pins, you have to hit the big high cut. You have to hit the low sweeping draw into a back pin.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and just falling back in love this place.

Q. What excites you most about this week? Are you confident that you can win?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I'm confident that I can win. Like I said, there's lot of stuff, particularly last week, I think that was a really big positive. I had it going there yesterday afternoon, to not really finish that well, and I feel like there's lots of really nice stuff to kind of get out of that. Just a few things to clean up and get back on this golf course, and I think I'll be away.

Q. Just to follow that up, now that you're here, do those good vibes come back from last year and 2020 and some of the other good finishes you've had here? Does it instantly come back?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, absolutely. I think driving down Magnolia Lane is like almost -- I don't know. I don't even know how to describe it. It's just like a love for this place. This is my happy place and I love being here. I feel like no matter how I've played here in the past, I've always been somewhat happy with how the week has gone. Yeah, lots of good memories and lots of good times here. I love the Caddyshack and spend a lot of time in there, eating ham and cheese sandwiches, that's one of the things; I think I had about 25 last year. Try and beat that by a few this year. It's just such an awesome place.

Q. I've asked you before and you said one of the things you wanted to do after making the switch is do a lot for junior golf and other things in Australia. We were talking with Harrison Crowe and he said he's going to play with you and Adam and Min Woo, and they are also big fans of yours. What kinds of things will you talk to them about tomorrow?

CAMERON SMITH: Not much, really. Hopefully they just ask us a few questions. Scottie has obviously played pretty well around here as well.

I think there is a few things out there that are a bit tricky, and I just hope they learn something from -- from the older guys, and maybe take something that they can take into the week and make them one or two shots better and they have a really good week. That's all we can really hope for.

THE COURT: Cam, thanks for that. We wish you all the best for the week.