Blinding start for Smith as care-free Aussie is cut above
CAMERON SMITH hasn’t quite gone full Merv Hughes, but there is enough fluff on his top lip to suggest that the thought has at least crossed his mind.
He dresses like he’s borrowed someone else’s clothes, someone who had more likely been on their way to a weekend at Glastonbury than a round of golf at St Andrews.
Yesterday it was a navy-and-gold hoodie draped over his scrawny figure, with a white snapback cap keeping a lid on the mullet underneath.
Hell of a mullet it is, too. A fine head of hair which makes it clear that Smith is not one who cares much for convention.
For some of his peers, the convention of what to do after shooting an opening round of 67 would have been to pound some more balls on the range for a couple of hours.
Teeing off early yesterday morning, Smith had the whole afternoon to do exactly that. But he just doesn’t do things by the book.
Just like Hughes before him, there is something strangely endearing about Smith; this care-free Aussie misfit with an outrageous amount of natural talent.
He will begin his second round just after lunchtime this afternoon, which gave him the best part of a 24-hour gap from his final putt yesterday to his opening tee shot today.
Asked what he might do to fill the time, the world No 6 said: ‘Not much, to be honest. I’m watching Peaky Blinders at the moment.
‘I’ll probably watch five or six episodes of that this afternoon. I’ll probably do a little bit of practice, go on the bike for 20 minutes and have a pretty cruisy night again.’
After consulting the advice of some Australian colleagues, ‘cruisy’, it turns out, roughly equates to putting your feet up, pouring a glass of something, and doing sweet... well, you know.
From playing a blinder in the morning, to then watching Peaky Blinders all afternoon, it’s clear that Smith is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum.
At this rate, he’ll have finished the full boxset come Sunday afternoon. Maybe he’ll start quoting Thomas
Shelby in his victory speech should he lift the Claret Jug.
Smith is certainly a man in form. Many people’s pick heading into this week’s Open Championship, yesterday he demonstrated exactly why.
His short-game skills are razor sharp. He has the touch of a surgeon around the greens, able to escape from almost any situation the Old Course might throw at him.
Six birdies and one bogey amounted to a five-under total of 67 on the opening day, putting him firmly in the hunt.
Glad to have made such a fast start, Smith said: ‘Yeah, I think it’s nice to get off to a hot start any week, really.
‘But these majors, I think the tougher the course gets, especially around here, how it’s going to get really firm and really fast, it’s almost going to be like holding on I think on the weekend.
‘It was nice to get out there and shoot a number and get myself well under par. A couple of birdies in the first five there and really set the tone for the day.
‘I hit lots of good lag putts today. It was probably some of the best lag putting I think I’ve ever done. My putt on the 2nd managed to go in from a fair distance.
‘That was pretty decent. But I had so many — it seemed like I had so many 80, 90, 100-footers out there today and did a good job of getting them down in two.
‘I think maybe at the start of my professional career I was trying to play too much of the right shot rather than just sticking to kind of what I know.
‘I feel like I’m hitting more similar shots to what I would in the US, whereas before I thought the need to try and hit it low because that’s what everyone said you had to do.
‘I think with the humps and hollows, it becomes quite unpredictable, and just something that I’ve learned over the years.’
Smith also revealed that he feared he had suffered some sort of knee injury midway through his round. But, tough as old boots, he was determined to carry on.
‘I’m fine now, but it felt like I got a little bit of almost a hyperextension in the back of my knee,’ said the 28-year-old. ‘It lasted a couple of holes.
‘I’m a Queensland man, so we get over that pretty quick. But just a little niggly for ten minutes and it went away. I’m fine now.’
Asked about his prospects for the second round, he said: ‘I think it’s going to get better as the week goes on. It’s an afternoon tee time tomorrow.
‘I think the crowd might get a little bit louder. There are plenty of Aussies in the crowd, which is nice to hear.
‘Places like this just have a certain feel to them, and almost gives you goosebumps. Standing on the first tee at St Andrews in an Open is something that I’ve only dreamt of doing as a kid, and for it to all come real and to have the support I did out there today was pretty cool.’