U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

June 16, 2023

Cam Smith

The Los Angeles Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. (No Microphone.)

CAM SMITH: I didn't think I was out of it yesterday. I think yesterday afternoon the course probably played a little bit firmer and faster. There was still definitely a score out there.

But like I said before, just haven't been able to hole kind of that 15- to 30-foot range.

Yeah, just need a little bit of work this afternoon and I'll be right back in it.

Q. What did you think of Sam Bennett's play?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, he's good. He's really good. (Laughing.)

Q. What impressed you the most?

CAM SMITH: I think he's a great ball-striker. He seems to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. Doesn't get out of position too many times, which is great for a U.S. Open golf, yeah.

Q. What do you like best about this course?

CAM SMITH: I think I just -- I think I just love the turf, the way it runs out. I think it will start to play firmer and faster as the weekend goes on.

But yeah, hopefully this place gets really baked out and we can have some fun out there.

Q. What's the key to hanging in there this weekend and just making sure you get a chance on Sunday?

CAM SMITH: Obviously I think fairways. I think as these fairways firm up a little I think they will probably play a little bit narrower.

But generally they're pretty wide fairways, especially for a U.S. Open. I've been driving the ball great. I think I just got to keep the ball in the fairway and just keep hitting it into the centers of greens.

There's a ton of greens around there where you can get in really bad spots and get out of position and you're looking at 5 or 6 pretty quick.

Q. How would you rate your comfort level today versus yesterday?

CAM SMITH: About the same. I felt pretty comfortable all week. I actually probably had a bit of a worse warm-up this morning and wasn't really looking forward to getting off the tee, but, yeah, it kind of just come around and, yeah, ended up getting the irons going, getting the driver going again and yeah it was good.

Q. You had your best result at the PGA last month. Was that a turning of a corner or are you just playing really good golf at the moment?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I think I guess the turning of the corner probably came I think probably a month or so before that. I feel as though I've been playing good golf now for a couple of months. Just feels really solid. It feels like I'm not doing much wrong. I just need those, like I said, those longer putts, one or two to drop every round and I'm right there.

Q. When you think back to last summer, how strange was that time like you're getting the win of your life, huge moment, and then you leave to LIV and there's a different perception, and maybe that moment wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. How strange was that?

CAM SMITH: It was definitely enjoyable. Yeah, we had a great night. I don't think strange is the right word. I think it was, yeah, it was one of the best weeks of my life.