Smith keen to impress at ‘home’ tournament

Much like his rugby league namesake, Brisbane golfer and US tournament winner Cameron Smith loves coming home to Queensland.

And just like the Kangaroos, Maroons and Storm captain, Smith hopes to be holding a trophy aloft sometime this weekend to live out a childhood dream.

Rugby league’s Smith will lead Australia into battle against England in Saturday night’s World Cup final at Suncorp Stadium while his golfing counterpart is one of the legitimate contenders for the Australian PGA Championship, which gets under way at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast tomorrow.

Smith finished fourth at the Australian Open in Sydney on Sunday despite taking “competition rust” into the national championship after a short lay-off at the end of his successful US tour campaign.

“I’m ready to go this week. The game felt good (in Sydney) and I’m really looking forward to this week at home,” Smith said.

“The PGA, ever since I was a kid, has always been in Queensland, so it’s kind of like a home event for us Queenslanders.

“I remember going up to Coolum as a little kid and watching all the guys play up there.

“It’s always been on my bucket list and now that I’ve ticked off playing it, I want to win one.

“I love playing at home, I love coming home to Australia. I guess just playing in front of family and friends that don’t get to see me play that much now being over in the States, that’s probably the main thing (I’m looking forward to).”

Smith won the Zurich Classic teams event on the rich US PGA tour in May alongside Swede Jonas Blixt, who finished in a tie for second at the Australian Open and will tee it up again on the Gold Coast.