LIV GOLF BEDMINSTER

August 13, 2023

Cam Smith

Jed Morgan

Marc Leishman

Matt Jones

Trump National Golf Club

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome our LIV Golf Bedminster champions, Ripper GC. We are joined by Jed Morgan, captain Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, and we are also joined by our LIV Golf Bedminster individual champion, Cam Smith.

Cam, I just wanted to start with you. I was sitting in player dining and some of the things people were saying about you while you were playing, you have the largest spread win of an individual champion in LIV history with a seven-shot lead. People are saying, yep, Cam Smith is just really good at golf. Cam Smith is the best putter in the world. It's just this constant thing about you just being the greatest of all time. How does that make you feel?

CAM SMITH: I think I'm a long way off the greatest of all time, but I did play good this week. The game felt good.

I won a couple of weeks ago in London, and I wasn't happy with the way that I won. I was happy that I won, but just the way that it kind of all worked out, I wasn't happy with how I played on that last day, and I didn't want the same thing to happen today, and I got off to a bit of a rough start.

Yeah, just played good. Just trusted my feels. Spoke to my coach early in the week, and we just spoke about some stuff that was going on, and typical stuff. It's always the same thing. Just trusted it the last probably 14, 15 holes, and worked out all right.

Q. Do you feel like you're the best putter in the world currently?

CAM SMITH: I don't know. Maybe. It's hard to say that.

Yeah, I think I'd be up there, but...

Q. Jed, you had kind of a rough day yesterday and you bounced back and played incredible today and obviously helped your team take the win. What does this mean to you, and how did you rebound so well today?

JED MORGAN: Well, yeah. I mean, not really -- by not changing anything, I didn't really do much different to yesterday. I just made obviously a lot more bogeys yesterday than I did today. Shooting 5-under is obviously a lot different than 7-over.

I just had a good talk obviously to my dad last night. He told me a couple good things.

Yeah, Cam gave me some advice this morning that obviously today is more than just myself, and I kept in mind that there's three great blokes to my left obviously that I've got to play for.

Past that 24th spot you're obviously not playing for anything apart from money, which is obviously convenient, it's nice, it's a lucky spot to be in, but I had to rally, and yeah, it was nice. It was just nice to play good for these guys.

Q. Marc and Matt, you guys all good shoeys on the stage tonight. Tell me about that moment up there and what you guys were feeling.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, apart from the disgust of wearing a shoe for a week and having a beer out of it, it was pretty good.

I think for me, just the satisfaction of being able to celebrate a win with some of your best mates in the world, and also for me, obviously Cam won London and we got close in London as a team, but it was a weird feeling on the 18th green in London, and I think for me today, like obviously Cam looked like he was pretty solid all week, looked like he was going to do what he did, and for us to pull ahead as a team and be able to celebrate on that 18th green an individual victory, a team victory, eight happy blokes - caddies, teams, everything - it was more than that.

That's what LIV Golf is all about, that team side of it, and just celebrating together, and that's what we'll do.

MATT JONES: Yeah, it was amazing. Playing with these boys, I've known them for a long time. Jed I've known for the last couple years and he's just a legend. We love playing with Jed.

Cam, everyone talks about Scottie Scheffler having a finish of top 12 every week. Cam does it every week out here, and he wins these two events.

If there's talk about Scottie, there's got to be talk about Cam in the same breath. That's all I have to say.

Q. Marc, can you talk about the caddie swap this week.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, so Matty, who's been my caddie and one of my best mates since I've been alive, caddied for me for probably 16, 17 years, his mom passed away unexpectedly about two and a half weeks ago, so obviously Matty went home.

We called Bussy, and being the man he is, he stepped up, and filled in for Matty.

Yeah, it's a hard situation because we all loved Glenda, and just the lady she was and what she meant to so many people, and I think today is a pretty good way to send her off on top of what their family did last Monday night, Tuesday -- well, in America, Tuesday morning.

Obviously our condolences to the Kelly family, and I think we'd all agree that this one is for Glenda and the whole Kelly family.

MATT JONES: Yeah, definitely, this one is for the Kellys.

Q. How are you guys going to be celebrating tonight, and how is Australia going to be celebrating when they wake up and find out?

JED MORGAN: Hopefully they go to the moon.

MATT JONES: They already know.

CAM SMITH: It's 9:00 on the East Coast, so I think that's probably soon enough for everyone to crack open a tin.

MARC LEISHMAN: Don't look for too much productivity.

CAM SMITH: Yeah, well, actually we're all going our separate ways tonight. These two boys on the outside are going to England to compete in the International Series next week, and then Leish is going home and I'm going home.

Q. It's funny you mention that actually because as you were walking down the 18th fairway coming on to the 18th green, Matt volunteered that you would get a private jet for the two of them to fly to the International Series tonight.

CAM SMITH: That's a hard no.

Q. Cam, you're the most reluctant celebrity I've ever seen. You are a huge star. It's evident everywhere we go, and you see very reluctant but also very gracious. Is it something that you're getting used to or that you're enjoying at all?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I enjoy it. I just think it's part of my personality. I think it's part of all of our personalities. I think Australians in general are pretty laid-back people, and yeah, we've got this thing called "Tour Puppy" syndrome in Australia. If you get a little bit too far ahead of yourself --

MARC LEISHMAN: You get a clip over the back of the head.

CAM SMITH: The Aussies will quickly pull you back down.

I'm happy with the spot that I'm in. I'm grateful for all my fans. Yeah, it's cool to do that, but at the same time, I still want to be the same person as I was 10 years ago.

Q. Cam, do you remember the last time you won by seven?

CAM SMITH: No. I think I maybe won -- this is actually funny. I maybe actually won the Greg Norman Junior Classic by seven. I reckon I was 17, and I reckon it was about seven. It would have been seven or eight. Yeah.

Q. Can you just take us through the stretch of 6 and 7? Obviously you birdied 6, and then Phil had the quintuple bogey. Can you take us through that stretch from your perspective?

CAM SMITH: You know, I think this golf course -- when you're teeing off that first hole, you've got 1 where you need to hit the fairway, you've got 2 where you need to hit the fairway, you've got 3 where you need to hit the fairway, and then finally today we got a break on 4, it was a wedge in the hand today. But those first three holes, they just keep you on your toes.

I didn't hit my driver as I wanted to those first three holes, but as we got up to those holes, like I said to Jane before, I just had to trust what I was doing, and what I was doing at the start of the week didn't feel the same today. But I just had to trust it.

I was able to do that.

It was a bit of a weird stretch there. 6 was a really tough pin. We only probably had three or four over the back of it, otherwise it's going in the water. Then 7, hard off the right with a right pin, water right, two really tough holes.

For how Phil played those first five or six holes, it was really -- it was just out of the ordinary. I wasn't really expecting that. I don't think anyone was.

He's obviously still probably three or four back at that point and trying to make birdies. It's a weird golf course. You can't play defensive and play for pars, but you can't play too aggressive and try to make birdies. You've almost got to let the birdies come to you.

I can understand why that happened, because you're behind and you want to win. It's as simple as that.

Q. Did your mindset change after 7 at all?

CAM SMITH: You know, Phil was the closest to me at the time, so I don't think it changed at all. I think I was still trying to do my stuff.

Still was probably only four ahead at that stage, four or five ahead. Still had to put my head down. It's not an easy golf course, especially when you're playing out of the rough. Those drives are so important.

Where a couple of these pins were today was a little bit dicey, as well.

JED MORGAN: As Bussy would call it, doozy.

CAM SMITH: Yeah, so you had to hit every shot right. You had to hit the right shot. You had to get the wind right. You had to get the spin right. It wasn't an easy golf course.

Yeah, just had to do what we did the last couple of days.

Q. Jed, can you tell us at all what your father said or any inspiration that he gave you?

JED MORGAN: I wouldn't say it's any inspiration to make you play any better. I just let a bit of emotion out to him. He's probably one of the only people, I guess, that I can really do that with, and I'm sure it's the same with these guys here. It's just a bond you have obviously with family members.

I was not very happy with myself after yesterday, the way I fought the first day to shoot 1-over -- yeah, to shoot 7-over and just kind of let myself down and obviously these guys down a bit, it annoyed me a little bit, and I guess I just had to let some emotion out.

To come back -- I didn't change anything today. I just, yeah, played better.

Q. When is the last time you've been that mad?

JED MORGAN: That mad? I wouldn't say I was mad. I haven't actually been mad about my golf for a while. I guess you just feel a bit down when you're not quite doing what you want to do for everyone and for yourself and all that, and I wouldn't say I was angry or anything like that. I just, yeah, threw a few tears at him to be honest. It was a 20-minute conversation. There was a few tears in there. He just helped me through it, and that's the same thing that he's done since I was a junior and same as my mother. Yeah, it was nice.

Q. Matt, Marc, did you know what Jed was doing on the course? Were you able to keep up with how hot he had gotten today?

MATT JONES: I saw early on we were pulling ahead but I didn't know who was doing it. I couldn't tell. I saw later on when I saw what Cam was, what Leish was, and I knew someone was 4- or 5-under and I knew it wasn't me, and I think all of us will say that we're very more than happy for Jed to be doing that because we all know what he can do and we all believe in what he can do, and for him to do it today on this golf course in these conditions, which were not easy for anyone, I'm sure he was low man in the field this week, and that's what we expect of him every week. We expect him to be able to do that.

I'm not putting pressure on him, but that's what we believe he can do.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it was a major test out there today, with that wind and the length of the golf course, the length of the rough. You had to play some really good golf to shoot under par.

The guys on the top of the leaderboard were able to do that. Obviously Cam did it for three days in a row. But for Jed to do it today, I don't think any of us were surprised. Just really happy for him and proud of him with how he -- we all stayed in the same house. We saw what he was going through last night. We saw he was a little bit down. But everyone has their own way of going through things, and I think you have to know that about yourself, who to call, and he knew who to call, and it worked out for him and for us.

Q. Cam, you take over the points lead with two regular season tournaments left. You talked a little bit yesterday about the importance of having a season-long type victory. Now that it's kind of within your grasp, can you take us through what you're thinking having the lead? Have you ever had a season-long championship before?

CAM SMITH: I think I've been in a couple of -- in the running a couple of times, maybe the last couple of years. But I don't think I've played this consistent. I have had a couple of bad weeks that I would like to take back, but other than that, I feel like I'm playing the most consistent golf and the best golf that I've played. It's nice to be able to do that week in and week out. It's something that I've worked for, something that was a goal of mine at the start of the year was to be up there with at least a chance for the last event.

Yeah, so it's nice to do it, and I think it'll keep me practicing the next five weeks. Five weeks is a long time off. I'll probably put the clubs down for a couple of weeks and then get right back into it, and then going back to Chicago where I won last year is a nice feeling, as well.

I think I was playing some really good golf at the time last year, so it's another tough golf course, small greens, slopey greens. You need to leave it in the right spots and putt it good. I'll be keeping an eye on all that stuff.

Q. Have you guys watched the Matildas?

JED MORGAN: Yeah, we have actually.

CAM SMITH: We watched a replay. It was on at 3:00 a.m. We weren't getting up at 3:00 a.m.

JED MORGAN: They're gutsy. It's actually been awesome to see them beat Canada and beat France, and yeah, there's a bit of resurgence behind the Aussie Matildas, which is cool.

Q. At No. 7, you and Burmester both played more toward the center and wound up in the collection area. How shocking was it to see Mickelson continue to go for such a dicey pin there at 7? How astounding was that for you to walk off after that?

CAM SMITH: I think, like I said to Mike before, when you're a few behind and you want to make something happen, you kind of feel like you need to do it, and this golf course, the way it is, not only that hole but pretty much every hole around here, you need to be careful of what you're trying to do.

I can understand how that happened, 100 percent. Phil is a competitor. He's one of the best golfers of all time. He hasn't been in the winner's circle for a couple of years, so I understand that want from him to make a statement, and I think it would have been a different story if that hole had have been a little bit different.

Q. After that happened, you went on to birdie 8 through 10, that gave you four birdies in five holes. Was it a matter at that point of putting it on cruise control and just being careful not to make one of those critical mistakes?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, it's kind of easy to say, but there's no cruise control around here. Every hole is hard. You need to be -- there's not a hole -- I actually don't think there's a hole on the whole golf course where you can take a breath and let's just plot this one down here and get it on the green and make an easy par. It's always grinding for a par or two really good shots to set up a birdie. It wasn't easy.

Q. Cam, right out of the gate, you stumbled a little bit. You opened up with two bogeys after three holes. When that happens and you've got a guy like Phil Mickelson and a major field coming at you, how do you dial it back in and just say, all right, I've got to put that in the rear view and keep going and win this?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I think those first three holes are just really tough holes. They're easy to -- they're kind of easy to par, but they're easy to bogey at the same time. They're not snacks by any means.

I think just getting back to the process, trusting what we were doing, trusting that wind, and just allowing it to all happen.

I played two really good days of golf, so there's no reason for me to go out there today and have 5- or 6-over and give the tournament away. It was just about getting back to what we know, and yeah, I think after 4 was a little bit of a set left; 5, I made a good par putt and then 6 finally made a birdie, I think that was kind of the turning point for me anyway.

Q. Jed, really quick, you're standing next to three guys that I'm sure you idolized growing up. Greg Norman was standing on the stage, same thing. What does it mean to be medalist amongst this group of guys and help your team big-time on a Sunday?

JED MORGAN: Well, yeah, it's obviously awesome. Cam has played like ridiculous all year, and as I've said in a few interviews before this, we just needed to back him up.

I mean, the boys to the left can agree. Leish obviously played good in London and we came close there. It just takes a couple of us to play good and a couple other to back us up, and to play good against these guys out here, it's world-class out here, and I'm really finding that out.

Obviously over the last few months, it's been tough where I've finished in the fields, and I don't know, it's just nice to shoot low and to help the blokes that you're out here with.

It's a rare opportunity in golf at the moment -- it's now becoming a team sport, and to be with three guys who have achieved everything, yeah, that's obviously brought that into fruition, I think. It's been nice.

Today was awesome. I didn't look at the leaderboards all day, and then my caddie on the last hole just said, mate, we've got a 10-shot lead, and I was like, you're kidding. Yeah, it's been nice.

We stayed in a house together this week. No talk about golf. We've actually had a few bets on the races in California. Pretty sure I gave a bookie his whole wage for the next three months.

And yeah, it's just been nice. It's just been totally, totally awesome.

Q. You guys have been squirming quite a bit throughout this press conference and taking your shoes off. Are they a little wet?

JED MORGAN: I threw my shoes away. I've got no shoes.

MATT JONES: They're a bit squirmy right now.