LIV GOLF LONDON

July 8, 2023

Cam Smith

Marc Leishman

Centurion Club

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome back Cam Smith, captain of Ripper GC, and Marc Leishman, also from Ripper GC. Congrats, guys. Cam, you're currently sitting at 12-under. You shot 4-under today. Marc, you're currently sitting 9-under, you shot 2-under today, and Ripper is in the lead by one. First tell us a little bit about your rounds.

CAM SMITH: Geez, we're probably both a little bit scratchy today. I can't really talk for Marc. But I know myself it was a good day of grinding. I really stuck in there today. But probably a little bit of work to do on the range tonight.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, there was good and bad. A couple of bogeys there in the middle of the round and a little putt I missed there on 18, which always leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

But I guess apart from that, it was a decent day, and good to see Rippers on today.

Q. You both seem a little exhausted today. Was it a bit hard out there for you guys?

CAM SMITH: It was just a long day. I think it takes -- it's always tough to back up a really nice round, and I think that took it out of me, and then again today kind of grinding around and having to think a little bit more than what I wanted to.

Yeah, the mind is a little fried at the moment, but long rest.

MARC LEISHMAN: I think I've got steam coming out of my ears. A bit frustrated after that 18th hole.

Yeah, coming out tomorrow, fresh start, and try and have another good round.

Q. The Rippers have not podiumed yet this year and you guys are sitting atop the leaderboard. How much does that factor into the mindset going into tomorrow? Are you thinking about Rippers' podium for the first time this season?

CAM SMITH: Absolutely, it would be nice. It would be nice to win. We haven't been able to do that yet.

I know in our group chat, we've said multiple times that we need to get up there and spray champagne over each other, and I think that would be a pretty fun experience. Still work to be done on the individual side, but it would be nice to see us at the top of the leaderboard on the team side, as well.

Q. Marc, is that in the front of your mind tomorrow?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, for sure. If we can look after the individual, play as well as we can, all shoot good scores, the team stuff will take care of itself. Hopefully we can do that. Hopefully I can make a bit of a run at Cam tomorrow and make things interesting.

Q. Cam, just going through your round, obviously you said it was a bit of a grind. How important was it, that par at 12?

CAM SMITH: 12?

Q. It was the one you were in the hay.

CAM SMITH: Yeah, yeah, that was a nice save. There's probably a few tee shots out here for me that I really don't feel comfortable, and they're all kind of almost in a row. 8, 10 and 12 just doesn't really suit my eye. They're almost too straight. I like to see a little bit of shape to the hole, and they're generally holes that I struggle on.

Yeah, really poor tee shot there. I managed to get the other two away okay, but yeah, that was a good kind of momentum saver, and then birdieing the next, as well, was nice.

Q. A round like that or kind of a performance like that where you're still able to maintain and avoid certain trouble, is there some satisfaction in doing that even though it might not have been the lowest score you could have shot?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, absolutely. There's something about grinding out a good round. Yeah, it definitely wasn't my prettiest stuff, but really proud of the way that I hung in there. It could have gone south really quick there. It could have gone south a few holes before, as well.

It was nice to kind of keep that momentum going and heading into tomorrow, as well.

Q. I'm not well versed on the shoey rules, but if you do win tomorrow, is a shoey in play, or is it only in Australia?

CAM SMITH: Absolutely.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it went go down well with Audrey at home, but I think it's definitely in the cards if that was to happen. It's something I'd like to have to deal with when we get home. (Laughter.)

Q. Obviously you communicate about how important it is, this team environment. You guys have a lot of fun. But at the end of the day there's still a trophy to be won. How important is it to get off the schneid there in terms of getting on the podium and that type of thing?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, it's been a bit of a struggle. It seems like we haven't -- there was a couple tournaments there at the start of the year where Jonesy played really well and all the rest of us played poorly, and then -- so it hasn't been a really nice ham-and-egg kind of season.

It's nice to see Leish and I at the top of the leaderboard. I know the other two boys are trying their hardest out there to get their team score up, and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and show them what we're really made of.

Q. Cam, I'm just a little befuddled. You go 63-67 and you seem like you're down on yourself, you're ready to go to the range. You've got a three-shot lead. When you go to the range tonight, what are you grinding on? What are you trying to figure out?

CAM SMITH: Trying to hit the middle of the club face with driver would be a really nice start. I struggled to find that most of the day.

I hit a couple of nice drives, hit a couple of nice 3-woods there but was out of position most of the day and was kind of grinding along.

The golf course gives up a couple of shots there I think towards the end of the round there with the three par-5s, and it was nice to take advantage of a couple of those, but still wasn't really the nicest stuff today.

Q. For both of you, are you guys feeding off of each other, because this is two days in a row now. Are you really looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what the Rippers can do?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I don't know, there wasn't really a lot of mojo between us today, was there, really. It was still okay. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't terrible out there. But definitely could have been a lot nicer.

Q. The Aussies are facing a little bit of a batting collapse. Did you hear any more scores from the English fans out there today or was it all Aussies?

CAM SMITH: I haven't seen anything.

MARC LEISHMAN: Didn't hear a score. We heard that Labuschagne went out, but that was about 4:00 yesterday, I think. He's already out.

Q. For Leish, you're currently T37 on the standings on nine points, and T24 is on 34 points. You need a top-two finish to get into that top 24. Is that something you ever think about? Is that in the back of your brain at all? Does it matter?

MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, yeah, it matters. I know I've been struggling this year. It's something that I would love to do in one week, but I know there's still a bit less than half the season left, and I know if I play the way that I can, that'll take care of itself. I'm not really thinking about it too much, but it's something that I'm certainly aware of.