Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith admitted being the overwhelming crowd favourite at LIV Golf Adelaide is ‘good and bad’ after he forced himself into contention with an entertaining round that included hitting a spectator with a wild shot.
Smith fired an opening round of 4-under 68 at The Grange Golf Club.
It represented a solid enough start but the 2022 Open champion was six strokes off the early pace set by the surprise leader Jinichiro Kozuma.
Smith’s second round was a flawless one.
He put circles on his scorecard on four, five, seven, nine, 10, 13 and 17 for a seven-under 65.
“Feeling comfy around here,” Smith told reporters.
Smith said he had huge amounts of adrenaline flowing given his popularity Down Under.
Thousands have been following the golfer.
“I mean, it definitely makes it harder,” he said. “It’s not making it any easier out there.
“I think the support is amazing, but there’s a lot going through your mind every second of the day.
“It’s very tiring. Yeah, it’s kind of a good and a bad thing at the same time.”
Smith also found some good fortune during the second round.
Cam Smith’s putting always coming up clutch 🙌
He drains the long par save to stay at 6-under 💪#LIVGolf @rippergc_ pic.twitter.com/hXgqWXGoEs
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) April 27, 2024
His tee shot at the 17th looked as though it was heading towards all manner of trouble.
But his golf ball struck a woman on her back and bounced back into the middle of the fairway.
“I think it was a good bounce for sure,” he said.
“I felt really bad for the old lady down there. I hit her in the back.
“It probably wasn’t going to be in the trees but it was going to be in the rough and a different lie, so it could have been a different outcome.
“But [I] made her proud and made a birdie there, and she helped me out.
“Hopefully that eased the pain a little bit for her.”
Smith said that he also signed a ball for her and gave her a hug.
“She was sweet,” he added
