Smith’s recent coaching change sparks his 1-under 69 at the PGA Championship

NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. – Cameron Smith has a new voice in his head – and he’s already feeling the benefits.

The 2022 Open champion, making his first major start since changing swing coaches last week, birdied his final hole in Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Championship to shoot a 1-under 69. That breaks a streak of 19 consecutive rounds in majors in which he’s shot 70 or higher.

The Ripper GC captain is now hoping to break another streak Friday by making the cut at a major for the first time in his last seven starts.

“That’s been playing on my mind for a little bit,” Smith said of the missed cut streak. “It’s not really the goal but absolutely I want to be in contention on the weekend in majors again. It’s been a while. That’s what sparked all this change.”

Prior to last week’s Maaden LIV Golf Virginia, Smith left his longtime swing coach Grant Field and began working with Claude Harmon, who also works with fellow LIV Golf captain Dustin Johnson of 4Aces GC. The switch was a difficult one emotionally, as the 32-year-old Australian has been with Field for more than 20 years.

But since winning the 2022 Open at St Andrews, Smith has just three top 10s in his last 13 majors, most recently a tie for sixth at the Masters in 2024. A month later, Smith tied for 63rd at the PGA Championship, starting the perplexing two-year stretch in which he’s failed to make any noise in golf’s most important tournaments.

His results outside the majors have been equally frustrating. After his tie for 26th in Virginia, he’s now on a streak of 35 consecutive LIV Golf regular-season starts without an individual win since his last victory at LIV Golf Bedminster in 2023.

Hence, the coaching switch.

“I feel like I’ve been working hard for a long time, and I haven’t been getting results,” Smith said. “That’s frustrating. You do everything you can. Grant’s still a great mate of mine, but I had to do something else. I had to get a different voice in my head. Had to do something different.

“It’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel. It’s just getting some simple thoughts and going out there and playing. I feel like I’m hitting a lot of nice shots. So far so good.”

Although it’s still early days, Smith already has noticed a difference, especially off the tee. On Thursday, he hit nine of 14 fairways for 64.29%. This season in LIV Golf’s first seven tournaments, he’s averaged just over 51%, putting him near the bottom of the league in that category.

“I can’t remember the last time I hit nine fairways,” Smith said. “It’s nice. There’s still some angst on some awkward shots, but I feel like I can swing a little bit freer and actually hit a shot. So, we’re getting somewhere.”

That doesn’t mean everything is cured. After a hot start in which Smith birdied three of his first seven holes, he suffered consecutive bogeys at the par-3 17th and par-18th. He pulled his drive on the 18th, hit a tree, suffered an unlucky bounce and found himself on the other side of a structure. He then spent several minutes with the rules official to figure out his options.

“I thought it was going to be as simple as going over to the other side of the 10th and dropping and hitting it,” Smith said. “I don’t know what happened there. That’s why we were there for a while, arguing a little bit. Got some relief off some wires, had to move some things. Good 5 at the end, really.”

After the turn, he birdied the par-4 first, suffered bogeys at the third and seventh holes but finished on a high note with a birdie at the par-5 ninth. That should leave him inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

A year ago, Smith was tied for 138th after the first round of the PGA Championship at Oakmont. He’s in considerably much better position this time – and evidently in a much better state of mind.