Cam Smith dodges halfway cut at Australian Open
World number three Cameron Smith was all set to hang out the ‘gone fishing’ sign for the weekend until he snuck into the third round of the Australian Open as late afternoon scores fell his way on Friday.
While Smith was biting his nails and crossing his fingers all afternoon before eventually making the cut on two-over, fellow Queenslander Adam Scott found some hot form, finishing with an eagle three on the 18th hole to grab a share of the lead with gallant Victorian David Micheluzzi (63-71).
READ: Micheluzzi, Kim lead after first round of Australian Open
Scott, who struggled in last weekend’s Australian PGA at Royal Queensland, was back near his best with five birdies and a closing eagle in his seven-under 63 — equalling the course record at Victoria Golf Club — after opening with a 71 at Kingston Heath on Thursday.
Smith, who at one stage was tied 79th (only the top 60 and ties advance to Saturday, where they will be cut again to the top 30), edged up the ladder all afternoon until the final few groups completed their rounds.
The 29-year-old Queenslander won the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland but sensed he was about to hit the wall this week as a hectic schedule and long year caught up with him.
Coming off a massive year, in which he claimed his first major victory and broke ranks with the powerful PGA Tour to set himself up for life financially with the Saudi-backed rebel LIV Golf, Smith described his first round as “pretty shitty”.
“That was as bad as I’ve played in a long time, it was pretty shitty,” he said, almost predicting a tough day at the office today.
It’s no surprise Smith’s game was off considering the year he has experienced.
The brick wall was always looming after a few recent months in which he was never out of the news headlines after his stunning British Open victory and his switch to the Greg Norman-led LIV Golf tour for a reported $US140 million.
He said on Friday that if he did miss the cut, he would probably go fishing and spend with weekend with family and friends.
And after walking off the course with a 73, which included far too many bogies, he was resigned to missing the weekend.
“Today was pretty similar to yesterday, more rubbish golf,” he said.
“I had a lot of adrenalin last week, especially on the golf course, the crowds were awesome.
“I think it’s all just hit me at once.”
Scott sits on top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at eight-under with Micheluzzi, who played Kingston Heath on Friday.
Scott and Micheluzzi have a three-shot lead over a group of players on five-under including Gunner Wiebe, Kiwi Josh Geary, and West Australian Haydon Barron.
Meanwhile, Perth’s Hannah Green charged to the top of the leaderboard in the Women’s Australian Open with a stunning six-under 66 at Victoria.
With five birdies and a late eagle, Green roared past her rivals to establish a two-shot lead over Korea’s former world number one Jayai Shin (68-68) on nine-under.
