Cameron Smith .. Open Champion ..'from a land down under'
Under last Sunday’s watchful skies and summery temperatures in St Andrews (Scotland), a town a long way removed from the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Cameron Smith, the golfer, mullet and all, was crowned the champion golfer of the year. His timing was impeccable - an Open at the ‘Old Course’ and the 150th anniversary to boot.
Smith is a unique character in the closeted world of top-tier professional golf. The self-effacing Queenslander absolutely comes “from a land down under” “where men drink beer” and try not to chunder! Smith offered this when asked ‘how many beers the claret jug might hold.’ “I'm going to guess two, two cans of beer." "I'll probably have about 20 Claret Jugs tonight."
It is fair to say Australians have a way with words. Brevity being a key ingredient, also, of equal measure is laziness. Lazy in pronunciation, lazy in name retention, and really lazy in completing a words syllables. There is also a required leaning to the modern dictionary, over the Cambridge and Oxford versions. Understandable.
SpeakingNick is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.
The uniqueness that comes so easily to Cameron Smith can be traced back to his formative years. Brisbane’s northern suburbs are unforgiving in their starkness. This is where Smith cut his teeth. The K.I.S.S (keep-it-simple-stupid) is widely used across all sports. Smith subscribes to its principles without deviation. He progressed through the ranks of amateur golf quietly. Attention was given to more notable names - it did not worry him a jot. Smith has an incredibly short memory when it comes to negativity.
I believe Smith’s father, Des, raised him to be a white-collar golfer, and citizen. Contrary to the wider belief of him being more blue-collar. It seems the blue-collar values appear when he might ‘get ahead of himself’ which Smith manages not to do for the most part, and when needed, Des will make sure he ‘pulls his head in’
Brisbane’s north has given way to Jacksonville, FL. A 1950’s three-bed brickie has been swapped for Smith’s waterfront estate. He enjoys his F1 simulator, there are several boats, he loves to fish. Smith can also be seen pushing a lawn-mower, and then when he entertains, he sometimes prefers the company of caddies over fellow players. No doubt he can relate easily to that tribe.
So, how did he spoil the Rory McIlroy coronation. I think it is best told in his words, the wise words of a millennial Australian.
There has been much written on Smith’s final-round 64 - bogey-free, five consecutive birdies from the 10th, and the pars on the exacting 16th and 17th holes. Oh, and, then there was the birdie at the last, to repel the tireless Cameron Young.
He started with, “This place is so cool,” “I love the golf course. I love the town.” Delivered Sunday - post presentation. A perfect entree, no doubt Smith would have still been in a transformative state, which he displayed in spades down the stretch. Always keeping it simple.
After being questioned on his, relatively, frustrating Saturday, he said simply, “just really put it down to links golf.” Brevity, right there. I thought he might have teased out a few too many tins Friday night as an alternative!
Then there was one for the punters earlier in the week.
Punter is an iconic Australian word, and is held in such regard that it was lent to a previous Australian cricket captain as a nickname. You’re not a gambler in Australia, just merely a punter.
He said on Wednesday, “Links golf is trying to hit the perfect shot and hoping for the best.” “You are going to get yourself into some ugly spots. You've just got to be ready for it. You've got to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Does Cameron Smith always “prepare for the worst, and hope for the best?”
His odds, after this self-deprecating rhetoric, settled at an enticing 28-1. For the record, this mug punter did not have a piece of that. Although, I am aware of a Geelong native who might have caught the karma bus! Onya Aggy.
Enjoying this post? Share it with your friends ..
It seems Smith, like McIlroy, travels light when it comes to his support team. However, a critical ally in all of this is his caddie.
Enter Sam Pinfold, an Australian (along the same lines as Russell Crowe is) - and a very competent member of the Caddie tribe.
For those that question what impact caddies have, hopefully this will dispel some of your distrust.
Smith had a one-stroke lead standing on the 16th tee. Next to him, leaning on the bag, was Pinfold. Back to the brevity of Australians - there was a swift conversation between player and caddie, right was a no-go, the corner of the dyke was in play due to the easterly breeze. Also, factor in the Principal’s Nose, a devilish bunker, that required a 270 yard carry, and quickly, and more importantly, decisively, they opted for an 240-yard iron from the tee, staying well left of the trouble.
This resulted in an 182-yard approach - knowing a birdie was not in the equation, Smith finished 30 odd-feet away and routinely two-putted. Clarity in thought and mind displayed by both. Allies are important in their consistent advocacy, and, most importantly, their lack of material bias.
Decision fatigue had not set in, although there was more navigation to be considered at the infamous 17th-Road hole. A green like no-other in world golf that sits near-perpendicular to the grassed pavement, that was once a fairway. Factor in an old stone wall, a road, a hotel to navigate, and then a pot bunker to sink all others. You have a difficult golf hole. Keep it simple Cam!
Smith striped his drive on a near-perfect line, a 332 yard total distance left 160 odd yards to Sunday’s traditional pin. Smith almost laid a sod over his approach. Later he said, “You're only trying to get it to 40 or 50 feet anyway. Just didn't commit to the shape I wanted to hit, got it a little bit toey, and turned over a touch more than I would have liked.”
“Got a little bit toey” - how good.
Left with a high risk, little reward pitch shot, Smith decided to putt 15 feet away from the hole because, in the understatement of the century, “the putter felt really good all day.” He made the two-putt, and it’s hard to argue against Smith being as deadly with the flat-stick as Tiger Woods was in his prime.
At 18, Smith drove 25 yards from a hole cut just the other side of the Valley of Sin. He chipped to 2 feet and rolled in the putt for a peerless 64. Cameron Smith had won the Open.
To quote another Australian, Adam Scott, “It’s amazing,” Scott said. “They were brutal hole locations, but the wind was down. It wasn’t all 100-foot putts. The wind just allowed you to play a shot and there was probably a little more margin. But the up and downs on the last two greens? Quite a dream. He has one of the best short games in the world, there’s no doubt.”
Smith is now the third Australian to win The Open at St Andrews, after Peter Thomson (1955) and Kel Nagle (1960) A nice side-line is that; Nagle won the 100th Open, and Smith will be filling the 150th with beer, and plenty of it.
“Mate” he calls everyone mate. “Mate, it’s unreal”
And if I can “mate'“ Smith back - I would just say, please mate, politely decline the unnecessary invitation afforded to you by, this pains me, Mr. Greg Norman.
PS. Apologies to many of the Australian readers for a lack of home-focused content the past six weeks. It’s just I’m not there as we speak, so I’m speaking and writing about stuff going down here, in a tinderbox called Britain. Back soon - please Qantas!