LIV GOLF SINGAPORE

March 14, 2025

Cam Smith

Sentosa Golf Club

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Cam Smith, captain of Ripper GC. Cam, well played today. You're tied for third at 4-under par after shooting 67 in your opening round here at LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco. Can you talk us through your round today?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, just really solid. I feel like I got off to a little bit of a scrappy start, missed a few greens there, and yeah, really kind of got it going after probably the sixth or seventh hole and just started hitting the right shots and really committing to swings and shots. Yeah, felt really comfortable out there, so it was a nice start.

Q. You had a strong showing here last year in Singapore. You're the defending team champions and you were second individually. What is it about Sentosa Golf Club that brings out the best in your game?

CAM SMITH: I think exactly what I just mentioned. I think you have to commit to shots. There's no easy way around here. It's shot after shot is very demanding, and the greens are so nice. If you hit a putt from 20, 30 feet, you kind of already know before it's gone in that it's going in. It's a pretty nice feeling to be putting on these things.

Q. How do you manage the intense heat? How do you focus on your game?

CAM SMITH: Obviously just keeping hydrated. The volunteers and the staff do a great job with the ice towels, as well. I actually thought it was quite reasonable today compared to years past for whatever reason. I feel like we haven't played in this much breeze around here. I felt like it was quite windy today, and off the water, as well. It actually felt quite pleasant today.

Q. Which part of your game was the strongest?

CAM SMITH: I would say just at the start, just holed a few really nice par putts from five to ten feet. Kind of kept the momentum going. Was hitting good shots, really not getting much out of it. Then putts started to go in and the longer game started to feel really nice, as well.

I'd say everything went well, but it was nice to hole those putts at the start to kind of not get stuck behind.

Q. Cam, how would you evaluate the season to date? Obviously playing really nice today. Did you feel like this was coming?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I did feel like it was coming. It's nice to get off to a bit of a better start. I think all the first rounds this year have just been off to a rough start. Not even really over 18 holes but kind of the first six or seven or eight holes has been really tough for me to get off the mark.

Like I mentioned before, it was nice to hole those putts to kind of keep me going. I've worked so hard on my putting in the off-season. I don't think there's anyone in the world that's hit more putts than me in the last four months. It's nice to see the putts going in. It's nice to be on some really nice greens this week. Not that we haven't really putted on nice greens the whole year. But I do love this place, and yeah, to see the ball going in really nicely, as well.

It's good to be back here and good to get off to a good start.

Q. You're transitioning from a course last week that was 6,700 yards to one that's 7,400 and obviously the greens are significantly bigger. How difficult or how easy is it for you to kind of make that transition?

CAM SMITH: I wouldn't say it's too difficult. I think they're both very tricky places. There's a lot of holes around here and last week, as well, where you kind of have to hit it. You don't really get a choice off the tee, which is quite nice, and there's a lot of shots like that that are really difficult. You have to play a shape or when it was windy out there today, it was hard to see some shapes because the wind was fighting it so much.

Yeah, really cool place. Like I said, there's not too many options off the tee, and you just have to kind of hit the right shot and really commit to it because there's a few places around here that aren't so good.

Q. When you guys won here last year, obviously you were coming off the win, emotional win in Adelaide, and it was a really gritty win last year to bounce back and back it up. What do you recall about that week last year and what it typified about your team?

CAM SMITH: I think we had such a big week in Adelaide. Adelaide is always a really big week for us. I think mentally it's just draining. There's so many people that want to pull you aside and get some of your time.

It was nice to see that we could back that up, really, because it's a tough week for us. Coming into a course that's tough, the conditions are tough, it's hot, I think we laid in bed all Monday and Tuesday. We didn't do much at all and really just got out here and obviously played well again.

It's just the Aussie grit, I think, is what it is.

Q. Obviously you came in a little bit fresher this time, or not?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, yeah, definitely feeling a little bit different. After we won Adelaide, obviously we had a nice Sunday night and everyone was hurting for a couple of days. Definitely feeling a lot fresher this time.