What happened to Cameron Smith? A look at the LIV golfer’s nightmare Australian PGA Championship outing

Cameron Smith witnessed a nightmare at the 2023 Australian PGA Championship. The Australian, who has been incredible this year on the LIV Golf, missed the cut at the DP World Tour event on Friday, November 24. He played two rounds of the above 70 and finished nine strokes behind the expected cut of the tournament.

Cameron Smith fought back tears after his lackluster Friday performance. He shot a 7-over par 78 in the second round of the tournament at Royal Queensland. He finished in a tie for 147th position with Lars Van Meijel and Toby Walker.

Smith went into the tournament with the excitement of playing on his home ground. However, this had also created pressure on him to perform well. He started his game on Thursday, November 23 with two back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes. He then made another bogey on the first hole of the back nine. After having a disappointing start, Smith bounced back with a birdie on the 12th hole. He shot a 2-over par 72 on Thursday.

In the tournament's second round, Smith again started with a bogey. He made a bogey on the fourth hole and then on the sixth, followed by a birdie on the seventh.

He made another bogey on the ninth and then a double bogey on the 10th hole before adding three more on the back nine to score seven over par 78.

Speaking about his performance at the 2023 Australian PGA Championship, Smith said as quoted by BBC.com:

"Yeah, no words, sh*t. Australia has been so good to me, there's no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable.

"I've performed under pressure before and it's not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually. I know what I'm doing, it's just going out there and committing to something is another thing," he added.

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Cameron Smith's performance in 2023

Cameron Smith had an incredible season playing on the LIV Golf in 2023. He finished second in the season-ending list with 170 points.

Smith had two LIV Golf victories to his name in 2023 and also had four top-10 finishes. He joined the 2023 Australian PGA Championship as the defending champion of the tournament.

Here are the results of all the tournaments Cameron Smith played in 2023:

Mayakoba

• Date: Feb 24—26
• Result: 6
• R1: -2
• R2: E
• R3: -4

Tucson

• Date: Mar 17—19
• Result: 26
• R1: E
• R2: -1
• R3: -1

Orlando

• Date: Mar 31—Apr 02
• Result: 29
• R1: -2
• R2: -3
• R3: E

Adelaide

• Date: Apr 21—23
• Result: 4
• R1: -3
• R2: -6
• R3: -6

Singapore

• Date: Apr 28—30
• Result: 7
• R1: -6
• R2: -5
• R3: -1

Tulsa

• Date: May 12—14
• Result: 2
• R1: -6
• R2: -2
• R3: -9

DC

• Date: May 26—28
• Result: 11
• R1: -4
• R2: -2
• R3: E

Andalucía

• Date: Jun 30—Jul 02
• Result: 12
• R1: -2
• R2: +1
• R3: E

London

• Date: Jul 07—09
• Result: 1
• R1: -8
• R2: -4
• R3: -3

Greenbrier

• Date: Aug 04—06
• Result: 35
• R1: -1
• R2: -6
• R3: +1

Bedminster

• Date: Aug 11—13
• Result: 1
• R1: -5
• R2: -4
• R3: -3

Chicago

• Date: Sep 22—24
• Result: 40
• R1: -2
• R2: E
• R3: +2

Jeddah

• Date: Oct 13—15
• Result: 25
• R1: E
• R2: -2
• R3: -4

The 2023 Australian PGA Championship is set to have its finale on Sunday, November 26. Min Woo Lee topped the leaderboard of the tournament after two rounds.