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How LIV Golf helped Cameron Smith reach form ahead of The Open
Logan Swinkels • July 20th, 2023 4:29 pm
Golf’s final major of the year brings with it plenty of intrigue in New Zealand.
Ryan Fox will tee off at 5.57pm NZ time, Daniel Hiller begins his round at 10.47pm, and in between them at 8.58pm is the defending champion, Australia’s Cameron Smith with his Kiwi caddie Sam Pinfold alongside him.
The 151st running of the British Open, otherwise referred to simply as The Open, takes place at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club - the scene of Rory McIlroy’s famous wire-to-wire victory back in 2015, where the Northern Irishmen won by two strokes over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler.
Smith, the quintessential Queenslander, has been on a decent run of form heading into his defence of the Claret Jug - finishing fourth at The U.S. Open earlier this month at Los Angeles Country Club, four strokes behind winner Wyndham Clark, plus a tie for ninth at May’s PGA Championship.
Currently sitting seventh on the Official World Golf Ranking, Smith famously left the PGA Tour for the rebel LIV Golf league shortly after his win at the 150th Open Championship.
He has two LIV wins under his belt, the latest coming this month at London’s Centurion Club by one-stroke to complete the wire-to-wire run – narrowly edging Patrick Reed after a challenging third and final round.
Speaking on SENZ Mornings with Ian Smith, Pinfold feels the momentum is shaping up nicely.
“Once we got going with this LIV schedule and the four majors, I feel like we played more than we probably would have if we were still on the PGA Tour, and I think it’s been of benefit to us to be able to keep playing and not have any downtime,” Pinfold said.
The course at Royal Liverpool offers up significant challenges, most notably the seventeenth hole and its unrelenting drop zones.
Being Smith’s caddie, Pinfold knows how to do his homework and study what quirks and challenges the links might offer up.
“These links courses, I think it’s very important to learn the lines off the tees, learn where you can maybe attack a bit more and where you’ve got to respect the course a bit more," Pinfold added.
Smith is considered one of the best putters in the world, but when quizzed about what happens at the tee box between golfer and caddie when the driver isn’t quite working as it should, Pinfold offered up an interesting insight into their relationship and approach.
“It’s tough to pick holes in Cameron Smith’s golf game, but the driver is probably the weakest club – when he drives it well is when we’re really on top. He drove it well for the first couple of days at London, it got a bit loose there on Sunday and managed to grind our way and hang in there.
“We like to play an aggressive, confident game – so I’m not going to not suggest the driver because there’s any trouble there, it’s more about reinforcing confidence, teeing up, and committing to a good swing.
“That’s the way we approach it – if things are going a bit awry we don’t like to bring it up, just stick to what we believe in and stay aggressive.”
And what about the club selection for the challenging course ahead? Well, Pinfold’s answer is one for the gear heads to take note of.
“We’ve added a stronger 3 iron and we’ll take the 7 wood out this week with the way the ball runs along the fairways a lot more," Pinfold continued.
“The bunkers, you might as well call them a water hazard or a one-shot penalty off the tee, so it’s all about avoiding them.
If that confidence and aggressive nature to Smith’s game helps propel the Australian to the top of the leaderboard, he could become the first golfer to successfully defend the jug since Tiger Woods did it in 2005 and 2006.
Listen to the full interview below:
