It was one 12 months in the past that Cam Smith leapfrogged Rory McIlroy within the closing spherical at St. Andrews to win the a hundred and fiftieth Open Championship and raise the Claret Jug.
Upon returning the coveted trophy this week, Smith admitted that it was emotional at hand it again. Nonetheless, he’s assured that he can have repeat success and spend one other 12 months with it.
“That’s what I’ve been saying to all my mates,” Smith told reporters on Monday. “It will solely be every week and we’ll be ingesting out of it once more.”
It is simple to see why the Australian is so constructive he can win the key two years in a row. He climbed his manner right into a fourth-place end on the U.S. Open and is coming off of a victory at LIV Golf London.
Regardless of falling down the official world golf ranking attributable to defecting to the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway league, he’s nonetheless thought of among the finest putters at the moment taking part in the sport.
Oddsmakers aren’t fairly as excessive on Smith defending his title as he’s, nevertheless. DraftKings lists Smith as having a 9-5 probability of ending within the high 10 however has him as a 16-1 lengthy shot at getting the Claret Jug again.
That is partially as a result of successful the Open in back-to-back years is not any straightforward feat within the fashionable golf world, and hasn’t been completed since Padraig Harrington in 2007 and 2008. However additionally it is as a result of the competitors is sort of steep and Smith will likely be going up in opposition to the world’s greatest in McIlroy (13-2), Scottie Scheffler (7-1) and Jon Rahm (13-1).
Clearly, none of that has shaken Smith’s religion in himself.
“I believe as a golfer, I believe I am truly a greater golfer now than what I used to be final 12 months,” he stated, via Sports Illustrated.
The 151st Open Championship tees off on Thursday, July 20 from Royal Liverpool Golf Membership in Hoylake, England.
