'A Pretty Epic Day' - Cameron Smith Blown Away With Home Support At LIV Adelaide
Open champion Cameron Smith says it was an epic but tiring day at LIV Adelaide with huge home support following him around
LIV Golf’s first foray into Australia proved to be a big hit with fans and players alike, with Cameron Smith drawing a huge crowd and the ‘party hole’ par three providing plenty of thrills and spills.
Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf League promised to be a louder experience than a regular golf tournament, and Aussie fans in Adelaide seemed to bring the loudest crowd yet for the new golf tour.
Holding an event in Australia was always going to be rowdy, and that was certainly the case at the par three 12th hole – dubbed the ‘Watering Hole’ with a stadium complex somewhat similar to the iconic 16th at TPC Scottsdale for the Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour.
Players had their own walk-on music, Phil Mickelson picked Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’, and hit their tee shots while DJs continued to pump out the tunes.
There was also the sight of Australian musician Fisher doing a ‘shoey’ (drinking a beer from a shoe) on the course as his compatriot Smith teed off in front of his bumper following.
“That was pretty cool,” The Open champion said after his round. ”Fisher came out and did a shoey. Everyone was going nuts, so that was pretty funny. I probably hit the worst shot of the day there, but everyone still clapped.”
Smith was blown away by the crowd and the personal support he received, even though he admitted it was tiring to play in that atmosphere and even made him tighten up just a bit.
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“That first fairway looked pretty narrow this morning,” he added. “It seemed like everyone was on the edge of the fairway. Yeah, it was a pretty epic day. It was incredible every hole, the support, the support going on to the tee, off the green.
“To be honest, it was pretty tiring. It's nice to have a lot of people that are kind of riding you, but it's also pretty stressful. You want to hit a good shot all the time. I guess it's not kind of as free flowing as what it typically is, but it was a pretty epic day.
“I saw a lot of mullet shirts today. That was good fun. I got like a "Cameron" on the 12th hole, the boys - like Happy, Happy Gilmore. So that was also pretty funny.”
Smith says that the atmosphere and experience sets the new standard for LIV Golf events, but didn’t need it to justify his move across to Greg Norman’s new venture.
“I think for me it was justified before this week, but I think it's a massive boost. I think it gives the Tour a lot of confidence and a little momentum, as well.
“For Aussies, I think this is the benchmark for not only, I guess, Australian LIV Golf, but kind of world LIV Golf. This is probably the best atmosphere, infrastructure, crowds that we've had. It's pretty cool to call that our own basically.”
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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