Cam Smith had golf Twitter buzzing again Monday morning.
Cam Smith had a very long few days this past week at the PGA Tour’s first playoff event of the 2022 season in Memphis.
The British Open and Players champ is rumored to be going to LIV Golf on a $100 million deal but is currently playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, where he is in third and a lock to make it to the Tour Championship in Atlanta in two weeks.
He will not, however, be making it to the BMW Championship in Delaware this week as his team announced Monday that he will be sitting out with some “hip discomfort” that he’s been experiencing lately.
Cameron Smith, who enters the week No. 3 in the FedExCup standings, is a WD from the BMW Championship.
With the end of the 2021-22 PGA Tour season now on the horizon, the expectation is that we’ll see a migration of players make the move from the PGA Tour to the LIV Golf Series after the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
It’s been reported Cam Smith, the 2022 Players and Open champion, has already agreed to a deal with the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led circuit. This begs the question — who’s next?
Well, Bookies.com has been paying attention to what Tour pros have said about the breakaway league and have come up with betting odds for each player and their probability to desert the Tour.
The 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith, has come into form and become one of the world’s best golfers in what seems like a blink of an eye.
It hasn’t been all mullets and trophies for Smith. Turning pro in 2013 following an amateur career that included victories at the Australian Amateur and Australian Boys’ Amateur, Smith battled his way through the PGA Australasia before hopping over to the Asian Tour in 2014.
Earning his first PGA Tour start through the Asian Tour, Smith never looked back.
Through a few sponsor exemptions and good finishes in a handful of majors, Smith earned his PGA Tour card in 2015 and regained status both in 2016 and ’17.
As an Australian, Smith has represented his country on golf’s biggest stages. At the 2019 Presidents Cup, Smith went 1-1-1 in his debut and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he finished 10th.
Have you ever placed a bet that you thought was a winner only to find out the bet you actually placed was slightly different? If not, you haven’t been betting long enough. Don’t worry, it’ll happen to you some day too — just maybe not to this extent.
Last Wednesday, a golf bettor put $75 on Cameron Smith to win the Open at +1998 odds – which Smith did on Sunday. The only problem is the bet was actually for the 2023 U.S. Open instead of the 2022 British Open.
Wrong year. Wrong major.
You can imagine what Twitter user “AZ” felt when he opened his sportsbook app to see an unchanged balance rather than the extra $1,498.50 he thought he’d won. Agony.
Now, this is a little different than, say, accidentally betting the over in a game that you know is going to fall under. That’s an honest slip-up; those buttons are typically right next to each other. AZ’s mistake was one of negligence on his part. The ticket clearly says US Open 2023. Even if he mixed up The Open and U.S. Open — which I can see happening for casual followers of golf — the year should have been a red flag.
And though his ticket is still active and has a chance to be a winner, he’ll be banking on a golfer who hadn’t previously won a major to get another in less than a year’s time. Smith missed the cut at this year’s U.S. Open.
All I can say is pay a little more attention y’all.
“I felt like I didn’t do much wrong today, but I didn’t do much right either.”
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Rory McIlroy had said all the right things in his post-round press conference and with those duties complete, he slumped into a four-passenger golf cart and buried his head into wife Erica’s left shoulder and all the emotions came flooding out.
The 150th Open Championship, the one McIlroy labeled his Holy Grail earlier in the week, was his to win or lose. After sharing the 54-hole lead with Viktor Hovland, McIlroy had built a two-stroke lead with nine holes to go. The World No. 2 had his strut back this week and was playing chess against the fabled seaside links in a way that would have made past champions here like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods proud. McIlroy could almost taste the alcohol he surely would have consumed from the Claret Jug once he regained possession of the winner’s trophy for the first time since 2014 and ended his nearly eight-year winless drought. Only problem is Cameron Smith of Australia had other plans and vaulted into the lead by reeling off five back-nine birdies in a row en route to shooting 8-under 64 at the Old Course. McIlroy, who closed in 2-under 70, two shots back, and finished in third, was left to wonder what more he had to do claim his elusive fifth major title.
“I’ll be OK,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s not life or death. I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. It’s one that I feel like I let slip away, but there will be other opportunities.”
Except he didn’t look OK as he drove off. He rued failing to convert on birdie chances at Nos. 3, 6 and 9, which could have nipped Smith’s charge in the bud. McIlroy hit every green in regulation in the final round and had a wonderful sense of speed with his putter, but he picked a bad time for it to go cold. He didn’t make a single putt of consequence.
“I felt like I didn’t do much wrong today, but I didn’t do much right either,” he said. “It’s just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf. I did what I felt like I needed to just apart from capitalizing on the easier holes – around the turn, 9, 12, 14. If I had made the birdies there from good positions, it probably would have been a different story.”
This one will hurt because McIlroy knows he had every chance to step on Smith’s neck but with every birdie by Smith his confidence grew and the pressure on McIlroy tightened.
Rory McIlroy reacts after a putt on the sixth green during the final round of the 150th Open Championship golf tournament at St. Andrews Old Course. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
“I can’t be too despondent because of how this year’s went and this year’s going,” he said. “I’m playing some of the best golf I’ve played in a long time. So it’s just a matter of keep knocking on the door, and eventually one will open.”
But despondent is what he looked like as he hid his face in his wife’s embrace. He finished second at the Masters, eighth at the PGA Championship, T-5 at the U.S. Open, and third at the Open – a banner-type year for Rickie Fowler in 2014 but for McIlroy it is close but no cigar. The end result is a failure and like Vesuvius he has to wait until April to begin the quest of pushing the ball up the mountain again.
It hurt because he admitted that he had dreamed of winning the 150th and allowed himself moments to look ahead and think about what it might be like to hold the trophy and be celebrated on the 18th green as the Champion Golfer of the Year.
“I’m only human. I’m not a robot. Of course, you think about it, and you envision it, and you want to envision it,” he said. “My hotel room is directly opposite the big yellow board on 18 there right of the first. And every time I go out, I’m trying to envision McIlroy at the top name on that leaderboard and how did that feel? At the start of the day, it was at the top, but at the start of tomorrow, it won’t be.”
It’s enough to make even one of the greatest golfers in the world bury his face in his wife’s warm embrace.
It pays to play well in major championships, just ask Cameron Smith.
It pays to play well in professional golf tournaments, especially at major championships. Just ask this week’s winner, Cameron Smith.
The 28-year-old Aussie shot an 8-under 64 at the Old Course at St. Andrews in the final round of the 150th playing of the Open Championship to overcome a four-shot deficit and earn a one-shot win over Cameron Young to claim his first major title. Smith finished at 20 under to earn the top prize of $2.5 million, with Young taking home $1.46 million. Not a bad consolation prize.
Check out how much money each professional player made this week at the Open at St. Andrews (remember, no cash for the amateurs).
[afflinkbutton text=”Cam Smith’s golf ball – $49.99 per dozen” link=”https://globalgolf.pxf.io/b3gnrk”]
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Smith made a late charge with six birdies on his back nine for his first major title.
Rory McIlroy was the fan favorite in the final round of the 150th playing of the Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews, but eventual champion Cameron Smith may have picked up a few more supporters in his post-round interview.
The Baltimore Ravens continued to add to their secondary in the latest 2023 NFL mock draft by Bleacher Report
The Baltimore Ravens have added plenty of talent to their secondary over the course of the 2022 offseason. With players such as safeties Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton as well as cornerback Kyle Fuller added into a group that already boasted cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters as well as Chuck Clark, the unit is looking extremely stout.
In a “way-too early” 2023 mock draft, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report continued to add to Baltimore’s secondary, selecting cornerback Cam Smith out of the University of South Carolina with the No. 23 overall pick. He first talked about Baltimore’s phenomenal cornerback duo already on the roster in Humphrey and Peters.
“The 25-year-old Humphrey has earned one All-Pro nod (2019), two Pro Bowl appearances (2019 and 2020) and allowed just a 53.6 percent completion rate in 2021. Peters is a three-time All-Pro selection (2015, 2016 and 2019) and one of the best corners in the league when healthy…However, he is coming off a torn ACL that cost him his entire 2021 season. Peters has just one year left on his contract and will be 30 years old by the time he starts a new one.”
He then explained that the team could turn to the draft to add even more at the cornerback position.
“If the Ravens want to continue enjoying the perks of having lockdown corners, they may have to turn to the draft. Cam Smith has certainly looked like one playing for South Carolina…Smith has a similar build to Peters at 6’0″, 185 pounds and he’s similarly annoying to opposing receivers. He uses great technique to shut down opposing receivers and only gave up 184 yards across 11 games, per PFF.”
In three collegiate seasons, Smith has totaled 64 tackles and five interceptions, improving in each year he’s played. With a big fourth season he could boost himself firmly into the first round conversation, and Baltimore hasn’t been shy to select the best player available on their board, even if it comes at a position of strength.
The Houston Texans shore up their pass defense with an edge rusher and cornerback while going quarterback No. 1 overall in the latest Draft Wire mock.
The Houston Texans will be in a favorable situation when the 2023 NFL draft rolls around.
Current projections have the Texans finishing with the No. 1 overall pick and an equally high second-round selection. The trade with the Cleveland Browns from the 2022 offseason also provides the Texans with an opportunity to add talent in the middle of the first round.
If the Texans are picking this high, it’s likely the Davis Mills experiment didn’t go well. Stroud has all the tools to be a franchise passer at the next level, and has already put up huge numbers against top competition.
Stroud would have an assortment of weapons to work with in Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins, and John Metchie with Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green under contract as his bodyguards. Dameon Pierce should also be an effective rusher at that point to take the burden off the rookie signal caller.
With the No. 19 overall pick in Round 1, Houston addresses the edge rusher situation with the selection of Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey.
Houston reloaded their secondary with top talent in the 2022 draft, but Lovie Smith’s defense doesn’t work if the front four can’t get consistent pressure. Foskey has a well-rounded skill set that would allow him to flourish in this scheme, and he would make an immediate impact.
Going with Foskey could signal the end for defensive end Jonathan Greenard’s tenure in Houston.
The Texans use their No. 33 pick in Round 2 to give Derek Stingley a partner in the secondary in South Carolina’s Cam Smith.
The first three picks would give Houston a quarterback for the future, an edge rusher to get after opposing passers, and another dynamic cornerback to create a no-fly zone.
