'150th Open champion Smith needs more than a cool number plate'

Cam Smith came from four shots back in the final round over the Old Course at St Andrews to win his only major to date

Driving into the car park at last week's Australian PGA, Cameron Smith's personalised number plate could not have been cooler: '150 OPEN'.

It commemorates one of the great major performances, when the Aussie star fired a brilliant 64 to overhaul Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young to win the 150th Open at St Andrews.

That was 2022 and Smith, who was the reigning Players champion at the time, looked a dominant force for the coming years.

Smith, though, accepted a big money offer from the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV circuit, joining them for the following season.

He has subsequently struggled to come close to such form.

'I think it is in my head'

The popular Queenslander was one of LIV's biggest and most important signings. He was the right side of 30 and at the very top of the game with, arguably, his best golfing days still ahead of him.

But Smith now cuts a pale shadow of the charismatic force that he once was. Last week he could only drive into Royal Queensland with that celebratory number plate for two days of competition.

And this was a frustratingly familiar scenario. For the seventh time in a row in tournaments where a guillotine falls, Smith had failed to survive the cut.

He had started the tournament with a reasonable 69 but followed it with a miserable 75.

His description of his round was a simple four-letter expletive. He added: "I don't know, I just don't know. I was so confused.

"I was feeling good, really confident and just couldn't get anything going. It was weird. It can definitely get in your head. I think it is in my head."

Smith missed the cut in all four majors this year. He has fallen to 354th in the world. That decline is partially to do with LIV not receiving ranking points, but the former number two has still had plenty of opportunities.

Since rounds of 72 and 78 at The Open at Royal Portrush, he has missed cuts at the Saudi International and before that the Alfred Dunhill Links event in Scotland.

Smith finished a lowly 18th in the 2025 LIV season with only one top-five finish. "I don't think about golf often, but in the past couple of months I've thought about it a lot and I want to get back to where I was," Smith said.

"I do know what the answer is - it's just to keep working hard and try to be patient."

His car was spotted back at Royal Queensland over the weekend, but only to take Smith to the range.

Has LIV softened Smith?

So will he turn a corner at this week's Australian Open, where Masters champion McIlroy is the headline act at the magnificent Royal Melbourne?

Ordinarily we might have been anticipating a repeat of the thrilling showdown of the Old Course that played out in the heat of the 2022 Scottish summer.

But for Smith, merely completing all four rounds would be a step in the right direction. It has been a perplexing and dramatic downturn in form - if not fortune.

The lucrative LIV life has certainly made him a wealthy man. But have the cash-laden lands of no-cut 54-hole tournaments softened someone who was once among the hardest of competitors?

When Smith signed for LIV, former Australian tour player Mike Clayton - one of the sharpest observers of the sport - predicted the then Open champion could regress.

"I think Cam is a one-major guy if you go to LIV because you are forsaking your competitiveness for money," Clayton told me in 2023.

"You are not going to be as sharp playing that tour as you are playing the PGA Tour."

Clayton added: "He had a shot at being a two or three-major guy. If you sign with LIV you probably pass that up."

Will LIV switch to 72 holes help?

Before his first major as a LIV player, the 2023 Masters, Smith spoke about the breakaway tour and admitted: "I'll be the first one to say, the fields aren't as strong."

LIV have strengthened since those early days. Indeed, one of their players, Spain's David Puig, was a brilliant winner in Brisbane last Sunday.

But back at Augusta two years ago, Smith also spoke about the importance of LIV members competing well at majors and a couple duly delivered. The following month Brooks Koepka won the US PGA Championship.

Then in June 2024 Bryson DeChambeau broke McIlroy's heart by winning the US Open. But it is worth noting that both of those Americans are unusual characters.

Koepka in his pomp always produced his best stuff in the majors while barely seeming to care a jot about week-in week-out events on the PGA Tour.

And DeChambeau is so distinctive in all he does. He is far from a reliable case study when seeking trends.

Smith's decline - and the fact Jon Rahm has not finished higher than seventh in any major since switching to LIV in 2024 - provide arguably more compelling clues.

Rahm has failed to add to eight major top fives, including two wins, accrued before leaving the PGA Tour. And although he won LIV's individual standings this year, the Spaniard failed to land a single tournament victory.

He was a strong advocate for LIV's move to 72-hole tournaments from next year. And while the switch may help with the league's quest for official ranking points, it carries more significance than that.

The longer format means the better golfers are more likely to prosper and prepares them better for the demands of the majors. Smith has not had a decent showing at that level since finishing tied sixth at the 2024 Masters.

Another Aussie, Min Woo Lee, last month made clear that despite rumours he is not about to move to LIV.

The Perth star cited his desire to remain in the world's top 50 to preserve Masters status, but he also observed Smith's decline.

"Cam was one of the best players in the world before he went to LIV and I hope he can find a stride," Lee said.

"Great golfers, over time, if there's more holes, they're probably going to come out on top. So hopefully we can see some good golf out of him."

This week at his home Open on Melbourne's sublime sandbelt would be a great place for Smith to start.

He remains a popular figure, but badly needs something more than a cool number plate to remind him of past glories.