158 Cam Smith_S New Chapter Aussie Golf Icon On Illustrious Career Liv Move Married Life
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You like a bit of a larry.
I reckon, because I mean, you've kept the hairstyle, like stuff everybody. I don't care
what you say about it. Have you had a bit of that in you? Yeah, absolutely. I've always been a smart
ass. Cameron Smith, welcome to Straight Talk, mate. Thanks for having me on, mate. It was just
always in my mind that I was going to play golf. I didn't really ever think about anything else.
You know, watching the Aussies play well and even Tiger. I wanted to be a part of that.
A lot of people criticizing you. How did you deal with that?
It was a really big decision. There was a lot of harsh comments at the start, but.
Yeah, I'd imagine someone like you has a team.
I've got a trainer, a psychologist.
I think you're golfing and a psychologist.
Mate, it's so frustrating.
Cameron Smith, welcome to Straight Talk, mate.
Thanks for having me on, mate.
You know, what is the deal with Cameron Smiths in the world? Like, I didn't know,
I only ever heard of two Cameron Smiths and you're both at the top of your game.
And both Queenslanders too.
Yeah.
And I don't know, I just got lucky.
Yeah, I've met him a few times.
Yeah?
Yeah, he's a great bloke. Really good guy. Obviously a great rugby league player as well.
He's one of the best.
But like, I've only ever met two in my life. Well, I've met you today, but I've only,
I've met him in the past, but I only know two in my whole life. And you're both like,
he'd be arguably the greatest, you know, number nine of all time, probably in my view.
Yeah.
And you're one of our greatest golfers of all time. It's the weirdest thing. Which part
of Queensland do you come from, by the way? You're not from the same area he's from.
I'm from Brisbane. I don't, I think he was out west a little bit more.
He's a bit, I think he's between, he's down between Gold Coast and Brisbane. He's, he's
not such a great area where he comes from. It's a bit rough. So therefore you're, you're
presumably a Queenslander at heart.
Yep.
Do you miss home?
Yeah, absolutely. You know, when, when I come home, I feel like I don't want to leave. And
then when I, then when I go back, it's like, I just want to go.
Back home. You know what I mean? But, um.
Back, back, back to the United States.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. And you live in Florida.
Or away for that, for that matter.
Do you live in Florida?
Yeah.
Yeah. I want to talk about that in a moment. And of course, you know, this, this conversation
is off the back of Trump's big wing, the Trumpster. He kicked, he kicked a lot of, kicked a lot
of people around. And, and that has some relevance to what you're doing now with Liv relative
to, you know, where, where the breakaway that Liv sort of created. And he's, he actually
said,
being a mad golfer himself, um, he actually said that he could fix, or he could bring
the two parties back together in 15 minutes.
Yeah. I heard that.
You heard that?
Yeah.
And you must hear these conversations in, you know, living in America. Because Florida
actually, um, went way in favor of, uh, the Republicans.
Yeah.
Way in favor of the Republicans. Um, and he obviously lives there. He's got a place there.
Yeah. Yeah.
Do you get to see much of this activity? I mean, you know, being, you know, like a, a
special golfer. Do you get to get to talk to these dudes? Um.
Do you get to meet him? Does he say, let's play a game of golf?
I have played with him before. Yeah.
Oh, really?
Yeah. I played with him, uh, last year. Um, I'll tell you one thing that was nuts was
the secret service was absolutely mental. And he wasn't even, he was a former president
at that time. Um, yeah, the amount of people that were around was insane.
This last year?
Yeah.
Yeah. This is before he's, um, you know.
Before he started like campaigning and all that stuff.
Yeah.
Because I, I did see, um, a time there where he was playing, uh, uh, playing golf at, at
his course. And, um, there were, they found some snipers, um, sitting behind the bushes.
There's more recently.
I believe that. Yeah.
Like, uh, it, it, it must be a mad place, America. Like, it's like compared to what
we're used to in Australia.
Yeah. No, I think, um, yeah, that, that's one thing that's way different. You would
never see that in Australia.
Nah.
Well, I mean, I see John.
Howard, former prime minister. He just walks, I've seen him walking around Macquarie Street.
Yeah.
Just on his own, on by himself.
Yeah.
He doesn't, you know, he might say hello to me or something like that. And he, he will
stop in the street and have a chat.
Yeah.
And he'd just walk on.
Yeah. Yeah. You wouldn't see that.
America is crazy.
I mean, like it's relative, especially relative to Queensland, for example.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, maybe you can expect a little bit of that crap here in Sydney.
Or a little bit in Melbourne. But like, not, not, not in, not in Brisbane.
No.
So it must be a huge eye opener for you. Or do you find it?
Experience, adventurous, like exciting?
Yeah, a little bit. I would say it's the most nervous I've ever been.
Oh, really?
Yeah. Because I, I felt like I couldn't get a, like, I felt like I couldn't do anything wrong.
It was almost like I'd needed to be robot. But he's, he wasn't that type of person.
He'd come up and hug you and give you a high five and stuff if you made a birdie or whatever.
But.
He would?
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah. He loves golf.
Yeah.
And he's like a, a history, like, buff. He's a, he's a fiend for golf. He knows every stat. He's crazy.
Oh, really?
Yeah. Some of the stuff that he was pulling out, I mean, I'm, I'm a professional golfer.
I wouldn't say I'm a, I'm a historian of the game, but some of the stuff he was pulling out, I was like, I didn't even know that.
And I'd go research and I was like, oh, that's right.
So like he's, so you would say that Trump is an actual student of the game.
Yeah.
In terms of history student. He knows what's going on.
He knows everything.
It's funny, Kerry Pack was exactly the same.
Kerry, not just golf, Kerry would be able to sort of comment on all sorts of things like polo, you know, like all sorts of cricket.
Yeah.
Like all this crazy stuff.
Yeah.
Do you mind if I just go back a little bit?
Because I'm actually curious about one, how does a kid from Queensland, from Brisbane, become a professional golfer?
Can you just, can you just take me way back, way back?
Because you're not that old anyway.
But like, if you take me back to say when you're a, when did you first pick up a set of golf clubs?
I was probably three or four when I first started following dad around, just at the local golf course, north of Brisbane, one team, a country club.
Was it like a Tiger Woods moment?
Like were you like your Tiger Woods dad?
Like was your dad doing that?
What I initially loved about golf was the social interaction and the friends and how good of a time I was having with my old boy.
And yeah, I think, I think that's how I initially fell in love with the game.
And that's what one wanted me to pursue.
It was one, it was a really cool thing for me to hang out with all these great people, but I was also pretty good at it as well.
So it was really fun beating the, beating the friends.
When you say the old boy, that's your dad.
Yeah.
So like, that's, if you're like, what are your earliest memories?
Like what would your dad do?
Would he say, come on, we'll just take the punting green or?
No.
Was he a teacher?
Yeah.
He, he taught me the fundamentals for sure.
Um, and then when I was probably, uh, 11, 12 years old, I, I met my coach who's still my coach today.
We've been working together for, yeah, close to 20 years now.
So you're in your early thirties or mid thirties.
Yeah.
30, 31.
31, early thirties.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
So yeah, he, he taught me everything, the rules, the etiquette, um, everything that comes with golf.
And then, uh, kind of sent me on my way and he was really good in the fact.
And I think I got really lucky in this sense that, um, you know, he, he brought me up, he helped me, but then once it was time to let go, he kind of let me do my own thing.
There was no pressure added.
There was no, um, you know, you need to do this.
He would just take me to tournaments and be quite happy to watch.
And that was it.
But would he, he didn't give you advice?
Um, yeah, for sure.
If there was a, uh, a bad day or, or a good day or something like that, there would be a welcome.
Well done.
Or, you know, today wasn't your day.
It was never, it was never, um, you know, you need to get back to the range and start hitting some more golf balls.
It was, um, it was just, you had a bad day.
So coach, your coach today, for example, it's the same bloke.
You just got one coach.
I mean, I'd imagine someone like you has a team.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
So I've got a, a golf coach.
Um, that's him.
Yeah.
Grant.
Grant, right?
Yeah.
Grant.
Yeah.
The old, he's the same old golf coach.
The old golf coach as you've had the whole time through.
Yep.
Um, I've got a, a trainer, psychologist.
A trainer being a physical trainer for fitness?
He kind of does both.
He does trainer and physio, so massage and all that stuff.
Yep.
Um, psychologist.
Um.
Because a golf, I think a golf, you need a psychologist.
Man, it's so frustrating.
Oh.
Um, and, uh, a caddy, obviously.
Yeah.
Um, and then.
Uh, and, and then now with Liv, we have the team around us as well.
So we have three other players.
Uh, we have a general manager, um, and three other caddies as well.
So there's a big team involved now.
And do they all have their individual coaches and individual, um, uh, you know,
physio and trainers, et cetera, like that?
Yep.
So we all, uh, most of us share the same physio.
Um, and we all have different coaches.
So, yeah.
It's, it's a big deal.
Yeah.
It's like running a business.
Yeah.
Like it is a business entity in itself.
Absolutely.
That's, um, of course that's your hat.
That's your team.
Yeah.
Ripper GC.
Like, uh, um, who came up with the name?
Because it's very Aussie.
Yeah.
It was, um, it was a process to be honest.
And that there was probably three or four to choose from.
And I felt like Ripper just was so Australian.
Like there was no other choice.
Um, we had some other names, like the Outlaws was one of them.
And I was like, ah, that's a bit corny.
But Ripper.
Something about Ripper, you know, it's the way of our, it's in our language.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I just loved it.
And there was no, there was no other name for me that I ever really thought about.
It's, it's sort of in our DNA a little bit.
And, um, and I was going to ask you, are you like a bit of a larrikin?
Like, uh, cause I mean, you've, you've kept the hairstyle and you like stuff everybody.
I didn't care what you say about it.
I love that.
But have you had a bit of that in you?
And have you always had that in you?
Yeah, absolutely.
I've always been a smart guy.
Smart ass.
Um, and, um, you know, it's, it's so good because I think all of us on the team now
are, we're all kind of a bit smart assy.
We all kind of put shit on each other all the time.
And, um, that's why we have, that's, that's what I think is why Australians have such
great bonds.
Cause you can just kind of say stuff that doesn't mean anything and then you go have
a beer and you laugh about it later.
Yeah.
It's awesome.
Do Americans get it?
No.
Cause they're very polite.
Yeah.
They're very polite.
Yeah.
They don't understand us doing that.
Yeah.
Cause yeah, we can actually, by the way, we can actually put shit on each other as
you're saying, and then go and make up pretty quickly.
But equally, if you think, if someone in Australia thinks you're getting too far ahead of yourself,
uh, they'll pull you back down pretty quickly.
Um, particularly media.
Tall poppy.
Totally.
Whereas in the Americans around the other way, they actually love you to get a bit ahead
of yourself.
They actually support you, pushing you up, push you up, push you up.
It's very rare that they, they don't have that tall poppy syndrome.
No.
Um, I think that can be a, I think that can be a good thing.
I've definitely seen it be a good thing.
Um, where, you know, someone has so much confidence in themselves and they believe in themselves
so much and they almost go to that extra level.
Um, yeah, but that's just not us, is it?
No, no.
I know.
I, I, I actually would like your opinion cause I have, I was only asked, I only asked about
this the other day and I didn't have an answer.
Why is Australia, why are Australians, I should say, um, so different to Americans?
In relation to that, like, why do we drag out, drag someone back when we think they're
getting too far ahead of themselves?
Yeah.
Compared to Americans.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Um, maybe it's a, a sense of everyone's the same.
Equal.
Yeah.
That's what I think.
Yeah.
We have a very, yeah, I think that, that was sort of my answer too, because I think Australians,
we like to think that we're all, we all can have a, a fair crack, you know, we can all
have a crack and that by someone being out, outlier, someone being way ahead of everybody
else, it's sort of unfair because the other people who are sort of not at that level can't
have the same crack.
Yeah.
And therefore we try to sort of equalize it.
Yeah.
And I don't mean in a socialist sense, socialistic sense.
I don't think Australia is socialistic, but I do think that in a social sense, we want
everyone to do well.
Yeah, absolutely.
Everyone do well.
America, they just, it's a bit opposite.
They just say, listen, let that individual go.
Well, like Elon Musk, for example, like I'm never going to get to his level.
Yeah.
Let him just keep going.
Yeah.
There's no drama.
Yeah.
But Australians, we were thinking, oh no, hang on, he's, he's pulling too much oxygen
out of the system.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Leave a little bit back here for us to breathe.
Yeah.
And we'll, we'll tend to bring him down a little bit, you know, and we'll put you in
a little bit.
Yeah.
And you living in both places.
So how often, like?
What's your sort of rhythm?
Do you live in America most of the time or?
Yeah.
So I would say probably in Australia for two or three months a year now.
Oh, not much at all.
Yeah.
And either in the US or, you know, wherever we're playing for the other eight or nine
months of the year.
Yeah.
So it's pretty US based, I would say.
But, you know, before, before Liv, I was spending maybe three or four weeks here a
year.
In Australia?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're actually spending more time here now.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So much more time.
That's sort of better.
It's awesome.
I mean, it's better for you.
Yeah.
Unreal.
At what point did you discover that you had, I guess, you know, obviously you were at
school here in Australia, in Brisbane.
What point did you discover, oh, look, I'm, I'm a pretty good golfer?
I, you know, I, I always thought even through high school that I was going to play golf.
Oh, really?
Yep.
As a job?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Not even, I don't know.
I wouldn't say that I had to, but it was just always in my mind that I was going to play
golf for the rest of my life.
And that was it.
I didn't really ever think about anything else, any other career options to this day.
I don't know what I would do if I, if I wasn't playing golf.
I don't know what I would be.
So it was always, it was always about getting as good of a career as possible.
As good as I could get.
It was never really about focusing on something else just in case.
Is that because you loved it and you were passionate about it or is it because you just
made a decision, this is me, that's who I am?
I definitely loved it and, and, and still very passionate about it.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I, I, I just thought it was, yeah, I just thought it was me.
I thought I had no other choice.
It's just what I wanted to do.
And, um, you know, watching the TV, watching the Aussies play well, and even Tiger, uh,
watching all that stuff.
I wanted to be a part of that.
And, um, yeah, I just didn't really ever think of anything else.
Because most people I know who are successful in any particular undertaking, whatever it
is, usually the ones I know are in business, but I, you know, I know rugby league players
similarly, um, they become what we might see looking from the outside is that they look
like they're obsessed.
Mm.
Obsessed with.
You have to be obsessed.
Well, is it, can we just talk about that for a moment?
Because like some people get weird about obsessed people, like, uh, but successful people generally
speaking are obsessed on their skill, obsessed about being really good at it, obsessed about
it, it plays a part in everything they do.
Um, they nearly don't have any other conversation about anything else other than the thing that
they're, they're obsessed about.
It's always about golf.
Were you like that as a, like as a teenager, for example, were you driving mum and dad mad?
Like you have all the golf magazines in those days.
Yeah.
You have golf magazines, probably not much, um, you know, like not much digital media.
Then it obviously become digital media, but were you, and watch it on telly?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's all I ever really cared about.
Um, I did play, uh, a lot of sports growing up, uh, probably until I was 15, 16, played
cricket and rugby league and stuff.
And, um, I think that was really important as well to give me some balance.
Um, yeah, but I never really went that way.
For whatever reason, it was always, you know, like you said, golf magazines, getting up early,
watching golf on the TV, um, you know, and then golf in the afternoons after school.
That's, you know, basically all I ever did.
So if someone's a parent and their kid's showing a real keen interest in a sport, or it could
be a skill too, it could be, you know, playing computer games, for example, what is something
that you could take from it that your parents did that to support that?
Like, did your parents ever say, hey, mate, um,
get off the telly, stop watching this game.
I want you to go out and play cricket today.
You gotta play cricket this morning or you've got school exams coming up.
How did your parents react to that?
I don't know how I would react, but I'm really curious to know how your parents reacted.
Um, they were, I mean, school was always a priority, I would say.
Um, it was always about getting the work done, but, um, there was also, you know, me bugging
them and telling them to take me to golf.
You know what I mean?
It wasn't, um, yeah, there was no, there was no real mix, you know, for sure.
You know, I played cricket for school and, uh, rugby league and played that until I was
probably 13.
But then after that, you know, it was, that was, golf is all I wanted to do.
It was, it was, uh, at the golf course playing nine holes, uh, with dad or with mates or
whatever.
Um, you know, that was our...
That was our thing.
Dad would pick us up from school.
Um, we'd get changed in the car, go straight to golf and then got home from golf, did the
schoolwork and had dinner and went to sleep.
And then it was just a...
A repeat and repeat.
Yeah.
Rinse and repeat.
Just keep going.
It's funny, you know, like, uh, kids when they're 15, 16, they start to want to do other
stuff.
They want to go with their mates.
They want to go to, I don't know, go out at night, just do things, you know, go to the
heck or whatever.
Yeah.
Um, but...
But committed people who become really successful at what they do, they tend to sort of brush
that a little bit.
Hmm.
How was it at school with your mates when they knew that, or did you pick some mates
that who like golf?
Um, no, none of my schoolmates actually, uh, actually played golf.
Um, they're, they're all cricketers or a bunch of them played AFL as well.
Um, yeah, so it was, it was kind of weird, I guess, growing up, I definitely missed out
on a lot of stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But there was no real place I'd rather be.
Um, yeah, there was nothing I, nothing I would miss, um, you know, for golf.
So...
So, and then how, well, then do you build a golf community?
Yeah, I had mates at golf.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Yep.
Um, people that I would meet up there in the afternoon and, and we'd play and, um, and
then on the weekends as well.
So, yeah, I kind of had two friend groups, I guess.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And at what point did you say, okay, I'm not going to, did you do the HSC?
Did you finish school?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you did the HSC?
Yeah.
And did you at any stage think to yourself, um, should I go to uni or did you think about
anything like that?
Well, I, I, I passed high school, but barely.
So I didn't think, uh, I didn't think.
So tertiary education wasn't a thing on your agenda?
No.
So what, what happened then?
So like, how did you then sort of parlay yourself into the golfing world?
Um, I, I got a job.
I worked at the, uh, uh, Redcliffe RSL, uh, for a couple of years.
Um.
And now Dolphins Charitory?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's it.
Um, yeah.
Worked there for a couple of years, um, running plates, then work behind the bar, did some
cellar work.
Um, and then, yeah, just went to golf, you know, work three or four hour shift, uh, go
to golf and then come back and work three, three or four hour shift at night.
So it was, um.
Yeah.
It was pretty busy.
But did, but did you think to yourself, I'm just doing golf because that's my past time
or you, did you think to yourself, I'm doing this golf, I'm happy to have the job to just
to make ends meet a little bit, give me something to do, but I'm, but on my game here is I'm
going to become a pro golfer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that was in the back of your head.
Yeah.
Even when I was at work, I was thinking about what I was going to practice.
Oh really?
Yeah.
So like you, you are, you were that committed, but would you say you're naturally gifted
at it?
Or, or is more practice, training, training?
No, I would say, I would say there's definitely a bit of natural stuff there.
I mean, I think doing it from such a young age as well helps.
Um, and it was never really, you know, when, when you're three or four years old, it was
never really about how good you were.
It was just, you were having fun hitting the ball around and chasing it around.
So, um, I definitely think that helped, but it was, um, you know, I would say through
my teenage years.
Yeah.
It was a lot of work to, to make myself good at it.
So I'm going to, cause the obvious question to me is what makes a natural golfer, maybe
champion golfer, but someone who's naturally good at it.
Because I've seen cricketers, for example, who have got a really good eye hand coordination
and you know, a lot of cricketers have eyes in their face quite close.
And I'm looking, I've been watching your, shape your face and you don't have a, a great,
you don't have a cricketer.
I was terrible at cricket.
I was going to say, you don't have a cricketer.
You don't have a cricketer's eyes and they're normally a bit closer together and they're
very straight.
Yeah.
Um, and which sort of allows them to, you know, play cricket, especially if they're
batters.
And I was just trying to look at your physicality, particularly your face.
By the way, I'm going to say you're a much bigger guy than I thought.
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cause you don't, cause you're wearing, don't always wear shorts, but you've got a big set
of pins on you.
Like you look like you, you look like you have a lot of power in your legs.
Yep.
So what are the sort of, let's see.
Yeah.
Let's talk about the natural skills that you, I mean, you can look at young kids today
and say, well, that kid's going to be, you know, he's got some natural skills at golf.
What are the natural skills that you think you have and what are the developed skills
that you think you have in terms of power, for example?
Let's start off the natural skills, like eye hand coordination, that type of stuff.
Yeah.
I think, I think when I watch, um, kids now, I think the natural kids, especially the,
the quite young ones, hit a lot of shots out of the middle of the club face, just the sound
that it makes.
You know what I mean?
They're just very good at getting the club there and that's, that's a gift.
A lot of people can't make that happen.
So
I'm one of them.
Yeah.
So I would say that's natural.
I would say mostly everything else you have to work on.
So the rest of the stuff's developed.
Yeah.
I would say so.
And in terms of like, just, I mean, I'm just talking about, you know, you've got a big
set of legs on you.
Like I'm just talking, let's talk about power, for example.
Yeah.
And be able to hit the ball distance.
Yeah.
And having enough power to be able to control it.
In terms of who your coaches are, like your training coach, for example, do they specifically
work on building power for you or, or enhancing the power you already have?
Yeah.
Yeah, pretty much.
Um, you know, through our off season, which is now it's about probably building a bit
more muscle and slowing down a little bit.
Slowing down, how do you mean?
Like, uh, moving more weight slower.
Right.
Uh, building muscle.
And then throughout the season, it's about how quick we can move that weight.
So the weight might come down, but we're, you know, we're throwing something really
quick or we're jumping rather than just doing a squat or something like that.
So there's a lot of quick power movements throughout the year.
And then at the end of the year, we kind of try to build that muscle up and try and make
it quicker for next year.
So you're in the sort of, it's called pre-season or post-season now.
Yeah.
So in that period, when you say you're building muscle, what are we talking about?
We, I mean, it's a lot of work.
Yeah.
Are we talking about bench presses or are we talking about, uh, squats and dips and
Well, a lot of our power comes from legs, um, so like ground and core.
Ground and core.
And then the rest of the stuff up here, um, I guess through the shoulders and, and chest
and stuff is all like stabilization.
So not letting the club get up here and do all types of crazy stuff.
It's just being stable.
All this stuff down here is trying to move pretty quick.
Yeah.
So, so I guess what you're trying to do is early stabilization.
Like in your off season is build the muscle and I presume is building muscle and strength.
Yeah.
So it's like, like what sort of exercise would you be doing?
Uh, we do.
Sorry I'm minding you.
Cause you know, because like, see, I, I see boxers do this and I know a lot more about
boxing than I do about golf, but I see boxers do is like, and they will actually go out
and build a lot of muscle in their, in their abdomens, butt, legs, but then if 12, 10,
15 weeks before they start to fight, then they start cutting it down.
Yeah.
That's the amount of muscle.
That's pretty much the same idea.
It's the same idea.
Yeah.
So they'll do things.
Most people don't think boxers, for example, go and do deadlifts.
Yeah.
But they do.
Yeah.
You do.
Yeah, we do deadlifts.
Um, it's pretty, you know, standard type of stuff, you know, building muscle is, you know,
for us, we probably stick to four or five exercises in a, in a session.
So it'd be like squats, deadlifts, um, maybe some lunges and then a pull up and a, and
a press.
Yeah.
Like compound movement though.
Yeah.
So it's just about everything in all those, those exercises.
Yeah.
And then you, and then, then what do you do then go and apply metrics after that?
Do you just go down and start jumping on boxes, jumping over boxes?
Yeah.
Probably through the season we do that more.
Through the season.
Yeah.
So, so then that gives you speed.
Yeah.
So it was.
That's the idea.
So was speed a really important part of the strategy?
Yeah.
I mean hitting the ball, hitting the ball further is definitely an advantage to it.
Um, you know, hitting the ball further always comes with its, um, discipline.
It's, it's, you know, it can go further into the shit when you hit the ball further.
So, um, you gotta learn how to control that as well, but, um, you know, that's, that's
the coach's job.
This is the trainer's job.
That's where all this kind of blends into a team.
But do you have, it's a bit as part of your natural ability, did you, are you really good
on, um, working out sort of distance and I mean, do you have a, a really good eye for
spatial environments?
Yeah, I would say, I would say I do.
Yep.
I do.
Like if you, if I can see the ball, I know where the ball is in front of me.
So you've got to get that spatial awareness, but you also got to know that there's a space
I've got to cover.
Mm-hmm .
Is that something you work on?
Like.
Yeah, well we have, uh, we have yardage books now, which tell us pretty much everything.
Um, I would say probably inside 80 meters, I don't ask for a, uh, a yardage.
So it would all be just what I'm seeing.
Um, yeah.
So there is a, a space.
There is a, a sense of that, but outside of that, you know, you work, um, you know, on
the range with how far each club goes.
So you're always kind of figuring out what club you need to hit, what shot you need to
hit for how far it needs to go.
So there's never really a, um, I wouldn't say there's a feel as such, there's a feel
to the shot, but not really how far the ball's going.
You kind of just letting it go.
Yeah.
So because you, and I guess you're probably working this stuff down to the meter.
Mm-hmm .
So you, you would know.
Yeah.
Down to the meter.
Yeah.
What, what your, what the possibility is.
Yeah.
And, and also what, what you need to do, what you need to achieve.
Yeah.
And is, is that, is that your caddy helping you out on that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of it, a lot of it is him.
We'll have a conversation before pretty much every shot, um, with how far the ball needs
to land, you know, how far it's going to roll out, which way it's going to go on the green,
uh, how much the wind is doing, um, it's, it's a big equation before every shot, but,
um, we've been working together for a long time.
We've got pretty good at it.
And is that about him knowing you?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think so.
Knowing your capability?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, um, I think through time you both kind of get the same mindset with what you
want to do.
So a lot of the times now, you know, we've been working together for a long time.
A lot of the times now we'll get to a shot and it's like, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Everything's just like bang, bang, bang.
Whereas I think, um, at the start it was a little bit more kind of.
Um, you know, what are we trying to achieve here?
Like learning about each other too.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And so how important is that relationship?
Because like, it sounds like pretty critical.
Yeah.
Well, it's important.
Um, not only for the golf game, but I think for your mind as well, um, I spent a lot of
time with Sam.
He's, uh, you know, probably six, seven hours a day, uh, when we're at tournaments.
So, and, and we're usually this far apart.
Yeah.
It's, it's very close.
Um, you have to get along with your caddy, um, as well, you know, in, in a social setting
personally.
Um, yeah, so I picked a good one.
So, so outside of the game, would you, would he be training, would he be there when you're
training?
Would he, would he be watching you sort of do exercise, et cetera?
No, not, not the exercise stuff.
Um, he doesn't get in the gym much, um, but, uh, if, if we go to, uh, hit some balls or
play nine holes, most of the time he's there.
Yeah.
So once you're on the course training, he'll be there.
Yep.
And socially?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We, we hang.
He lives in Florida?
Yep.
Yeah.
He lives probably 20 minutes away.
Right.
Um, he, he, we actually just went fishing last week.
He come on a fishing trip with us.
He's one of my best mates.
Ah, right.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, um.
It's that level.
Yep.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and really from, you know, not knowing each other to, you know, one of my best mates.
Now it's pretty, pretty cool.
And where'd you find him?
Like?
Um, I, when I was a young, when, when I was a young professional, um, I was playing the.
At which age?
What do you mean?
What are you talking about?
Cause you're still young.
I was probably 20.
20.
Wow.
Yep.
Um, I was playing, he's from New Zealand.
Um, and he, he just happened to be at home the same time the New Zealand Open was on.
Um, he had been working in the States, um, and, and was at home and he was working for
a friend of mine, uh, Michael Simon.
He missed the cut, um, and I knew Sam was a good caddy because he'd been working in the
States.
I'd never had a good caddy before.
And I said to him, do you mind if I, you know, basically borrow your caddy for the weekend?
I just want to see what it's all about.
Um, and then, so he, he said yes.
Um, and then, uh, we went out there the next day, um, around the hills, um, New Zealand
Open.
We went around there.
The next day I hit 18 greens, um, so I don't think I'd ever really done that before.
And, and then, then I was like, there really is a, a key to having a good caddy.
So you, you would, you would attribute some of those 18, how many times, how many times?
18 greens.
18 greens.
18 out of 18.
That's a hundred percent, um, success rate.
So you would attribute some of that to what he did or said or helped you with.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I was, um, I was playing some pretty decent golf at the time.
I wouldn't say it was my best.
It was my best stuff.
But, um, just having someone there to give you a hundred percent confidence in what you're
doing, I think was really, really cool.
And it, like I said, that was the first time I ever experienced a professional caddy.
So, um, yeah, that's, that's when I was like, yeah, there's something to this.
You know, it's not just, it's not just me.
Um, yeah.
And when, when you do the, when you did the live thing, did you, do they offer him something?
I mean, or is that part of your total package?
Yeah.
Like, do you look after him?
Yeah, no, he does.
Yeah.
I've, I've always, yeah, I guess, um, as far as payment and all that stuff goes, I've always
looked after him.
That's from you though.
Yeah.
That's up to you sort of thing.
That didn't change.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So your team is on you.
They're, they're not like employees, but like they're part of your team.
So, you know, you're responsible for everything that they get.
Yep.
And, and therefore it's up to you to do a deal.
Yeah.
In order to put yourself in that position.
Yep.
So how long ago again, was it?
That the, uh, the, uh.
When was it that the, uh, live deal came to you?
Uh, it was probably just over two years now.
And did, did who rang Greg Norman?
I mean, how did it all work?
Um, I, well, there was a lot of, uh, kind of movement, I guess, um, throughout the tour
at the time and, um, agents and stuff would come up to you and, um, they would say, you
know, and then, um, and then I remember after the, um.
Yeah.
It was after the open, Greg rung me up and we had a really good chat and I spoke to a
few, uh, uh, really good friends that I knew I could lean on, um, in, in the space as well.
And, um, yeah, as a team, we, yeah, just decided to go for it.
Did you know Greg Norman before that?
I'd met him a few times.
I wouldn't say I knew him well, um, I definitely know him well now.
Um, and yeah, he's, he's been great for us.
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It's interesting, like, you remember the rugby league sort of wars, you know,
when Murdoch tried to tip rugby league into super league.
So it didn't work at the end of the day.
You remember Kerry Packer, you know, when he changed cricket,
brought in the one day series.
And by the way, Greg Norman was around then and he was very close to Kerry.
Yeah.
Very close to Kerry.
And did you think to yourself, what were the sort of challenges?
I mean, you're a young guy at the time, like, we're still young, but what sort of emotional
challenges do you go through?
Like when you're trying to work out, should I jump?
I mean, apart from the fact that they're offering you a nice paycheck, but what are the things
that you felt?
Did you ring your dad up?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I spoke to a lot of people.
I think the things that I felt was...
You know, it was all kind of still up in the air and was my career as a golfer going to
be secure was the main question before anything else.
And the answer was yes from everyone.
If you moved across to live here.
Yeah.
And what do you mean by secure?
What for you do you mean in a financial security?
No, I mean, like, am I going to be able to play golf professionally?
You know, like it was so fresh at the start.
We didn't know whether it was going to be...
We get locked out.
A year or, you know, or like it's been now, it's been a dream.
But yeah, that was the biggest question.
I think second was, you know, playing less golf, spending more time in Australia was
obviously really, really important.
And then third was the business decision.
Like, you know, it's a pretty big number to knock down and I get to play golf for the
rest of my life as a professional.
Do what I love.
And Australia support junior golf and golf in Australia.
And yeah, and I get to spend more time here.
So it's a no brainer.
I mean, I remember at the time, a lot of people criticizing you.
I mean, what do you, how did you deal with that?
Like, because I mean, actually I come out and said, are you serious?
Like, young guy, of course you're going to do it.
Like, why wouldn't you?
It's, you know, you'd be off your head if I was a parent.
I would say you're off your head if you don't do it.
You know what I mean?
Like, assuming you could, you know, get assurances that you could play.
The game you really love and you're going to get locked out of the rest of the world.
Yeah.
You know, there's going to be more participants in it and they've got a proper program.
Yeah.
Assuming that was the case.
But like, why wouldn't, why would anybody in their right mind not do it?
I mean, especially if you're a young man.
It wouldn't matter if you're an old man.
Like, you'd still do it.
Yeah.
You know, but like, and how important was the support of someone like Greg Norman though?
Like, given that he was sort of a proponent for it, like he was the front of it.
Yeah.
And his endorsement?
Yeah.
I think, you know, I watched a lot of Greg growing up.
I idolized him as a kid.
And then to be speaking to him is one thing.
You know what I mean?
And then for him to want you to come over and be on his team is basically, was basically,
it was another thing.
So, yeah, it was, it was a really big decision.
There was a lot of harsh comments at the start and through time, all of that has kind of
dwindled down.
Do you read the papers?
Did you read?
No.
I can't be bothered reading that shit.
At the time?
Yeah, good.
No.
I would say I spent a lot less time on the phone through digital media and spent a lot
more time on the phone speaking to people that I love and that I care about their, what
they think of me.
And that at the end of the day trumped everything.
That's a really important point you made there because this happens a lot in Australia.
I mean, and probably overseas too.
We tend to get bogged down on what everybody thinks about it and we don't even know these
individuals, particularly on social media.
Yeah.
We don't know who the hell they are.
Yeah.
And your, you, the point you just made is you sort of spent less time looking at your
social media on your phone and spend more time actually on the telephone talking to
people who you trust.
Because, so is it fair to say that at the end of the day, the only people whose opinion
that matters are the people who you have around you?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
That was a pretty mature thing to do for a young guy.
Did someone tell you that?
I just had so many good conversations with so many good people that it was, just meant
nothing.
The other stuff meant nothing.
And they ensured me that I was making the right decision for myself and that was all
I needed.
You know, it was, I didn't need the approval of mainstream media at that time.
And to, to make me feel good, it was all about, um, like I said, spending more time in Australia,
supporting the events here.
And, um, now we have a great event in Adelaide.
Um, yeah, so it was all that stuff meant so much more to me than what someone was going
to, you know, someone, someone nasty was going to say to me on, on social media.
Well, that's, but as you know, lots of people, especially young people, they get a bit caught
up in the whole social media thing.
Yeah.
And they worry about what people think.
Yeah.
Well, what do you, I mean, you're someone who's actually been through that in like a
very intense way.
Yeah.
Young people struggle with mental health based on what, and we saw a young girl recently,
um, in Australia, I don't know if you were aware of this, but she, you know, she took
her own life, just a kid in Sydney.
Um, what would you say to those people?
Cause you've been at the apex of this, like people were really having a crack at you.
And what, what do you say to them?
Well, how would you tell these people, these younger kids, especially to deal with this
stuff?
Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a tough one because it is such a brutal world and, um, you know,
I'm a culprit of it all the time.
I spend so much time on my phone now just doing random stuff on Instagram and it's,
it's almost hard to get away from, but I would say at the end of the day, mum and dad and
the people around you that really love you are the, are the only people, people's opinion
that matter.
That's it.
Yeah.
So, and because like younger kids, especially like if they're young teenagers, young girls,
a teenager, um, they feel as though they're, it's a different generation to you.
You know, you're a, I think you're a millennial and they're, you know, uh, I got no idea what
I am.
Yeah.
I think you're a millennial.
I think you're a millennial.
But like the, these, these kids are, you know, uh, Zed or Zee or whatever they call it, um,
and their lives are, their lives have been brought up on social media and they, it would
be good for them to hear people like you who have been, become extraordinarily successful,
but also people like you have actually experienced the pain, well not about pain, but experienced
the criticism that they think are really the most important part of their life.
It's important for them to hear people like you talk about this.
Have you ever thought to yourself, you know, that's one of my obligations, that's one of
the things I should do.
Like the give back.
Are you at a stage now where you're ready to give back?
Yeah, absolutely.
I, I feel like I've, uh, particularly to the game of golf in Australia, I feel like I,
I do a pretty good job of that.
Well, explain that through, tell me, tell me through, especially the younger people.
Um, so I, I mean, I, I have a scholarship now where I mentor a couple of guys every
year.
They come over and, um, hang out at the house.
Um, this year the guys, uh, come up to a, to a live golf tournament.
Chicago and, um, saw how everyone prepared and, um, you know, got to see guys like, you
know, Brooks Koepka and Bryson and DJ and all these guys that they see on TV.
They got to meet them all.
Um, it was a pretty cool thing to do.
Um, but I've, I've been doing that now for, uh, probably close to six or seven years.
Um, the scholarship.
Yeah.
Wow.
And, uh, actually my first, uh, one of my first scholarship holders was on my
table.
Last year, which was a, which was a pretty cool thing.
Um, he didn't, he didn't play his best, but, um, yeah, so that was kind of like a proud
brother almost moment.
Um, and then, and then I think just getting down here and, and supporting the game in
general has always been really important to me, you know, playing the local events, um,
you know, doing the junior clinics, all the stuff that, um, you can do to make someone's,
you know, whether it be golf.
Skills or life skills or whatever it is better.
Um, yeah, I really enjoy doing that.
And that's one of the things you're doing at the moment, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what does that entail?
Like, you know, we're talking about just showing kids how to hold a golf club or, or you talk
more generally talking about what it's like to become a professional.
What's it like to be in your shoes?
Yeah.
I would say just, um, you know, the biggest thing for me to come out of the scholarship
is someone to talk to.
Uh, because when I first moved to the States, I was 21, um, and basically knew no one other
than my caddy who, which was a really fresh relationship at the time.
Um, and I, I felt like, although we had FaceTime and I could talk to mom and dad, I felt like
there was just something missing.
And, and that to me was just a mate that I could just go hang out with and, um, and talk
to.
And, um, you know, through time, uh, I got lucky.
Got.
You know, got to know Mark Leishman really well and, and Adam Scott and Jason Day and
they, they kind of all become my big brothers in, in that sense, uh, where we could hang
out at, at golf tournaments, go to dinner and play practice rounds.
But for that first, you know, couple of years was pretty, uh, lonely.
And, uh, yeah, so I, I just felt like it was really important to me to, to give these
kids someone to talk to.
Yeah.
And cause I'm, I think, I think it was really important.
Most people don't, don't understand when someone gets to the top of the game, everybody
just assumes that they're consumed by lots of friends, but actually in fact, you are
quite lonely.
It is a quite lonely place.
Yeah.
Particularly golf.
Is that right?
Why?
Cause it's not a team sport so much.
Yeah.
But it is now.
You're, you're in a team now, but it lives a team's team structure.
But before Liv, there was, you're just out there on your own.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
It's just, uh, you know, you, you find yourself.
You find yourself in these weird and wonderful places throughout the States, you know, in
a hotel room that you don't really want to stay in.
It looks glamorous.
Yeah.
It's, yeah, it's.
You're living out of a bag.
Yeah, it's not.
Um, yeah, so yeah, that was, that was it.
Just someone to hang out with, go have a beer with, go have dinner with, um, someone to,
to text when you're not playing your best golf or whatever.
Someone to kind of lean on is, is what I wanted.
So I guess I.
Yeah.
Brings me to another point.
You're, what, you're engaged or you're married.
Married, yeah.
You're married now.
I saw the ring on your finger.
Yeah, yeah.
Which you were playing with.
I can't stop fiddling with it.
Yeah.
How long has that been there?
It's been 10 months.
10 months now.
I can't stop.
Do you play, when you play golf, do you leave it?
I pull it off.
You take it off, yeah.
Yeah.
Because it's, it's a distraction, I guess.
Yeah.
And this is my glove hand too and the glove doesn't fit that well over it.
Yeah.
So how important to you is having that real super close relationship?
Mm-hmm.
Now?
You're only 31.
Yeah.
Like you're a young guy.
But how important is that?
I mean, what does that do to your golf?
Or does it not change your golf?
I would say it, I would say it motivate, it motivates me more.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
To do well or to.
Yeah, to do well.
I would say there's probably a little bit of added pressure.
You know, with, with having someone there that's so close,
they, they really feel like.
They feel like a team as well and they want you to do well and you know that they want you to do well.
So it's almost like another piece to the puzzle.
But yeah, it's very motivating.
You know, I think particularly when, you know, you start to have a family and all that stuff,
I think I'm really looking forward to that.
Wow.
And how, how cool that's going to be as a, you know, as a parent.
And I think that will motivate me even more to be a better person and a, and a better player.
So yeah, I can't wait for that next step.
What's your wife's name?
Chanel.
Chanel.
And where'd you meet her?
I met her in Jacksonville through a, through a mutual friend.
She's a smart girl as well.
She's a chiropractor.
She actually.
That's awful.
Yeah.
It's good.
It's good on the road.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Babe, my back hurts a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Actually, when I, when I met her, she had just finished her, all of her last exams.
So could not have been better timing.
I think it would have, you know, with how busy.
She would have been, it would have been a bit of a struggle if it was any earlier.
So yeah, she's, she's awesome.
I got a good one.
So she goes on the road with you?
Yeah.
Most of the time she's on the road.
She still works from time to time.
She'll stay at home and yeah, and work on some clients and all that stuff.
But I would say now probably 70% of the time she's on the road with me and there's a pretty,
it's a pretty good traveling partner.
Like you said, a chiropractor is always nice, especially after a long flight or something
like that.
It's good.
So I guess the obvious question though, if, you know, maybe it could be a first here,
but the obvious question is 10 months, you know, you, maybe you're thinking about family.
Yeah, absolutely.
Are you trying?
Yeah.
Oh, good.
That's awesome.
She's actually, she's actually pregnant at the moment.
Oh, congratulations.
Yeah, thank you.
That's very good.
Yeah.
And how far down the track is she?
She's 20 weeks.
20 weeks.
About halfway.
Yeah, because the rule normally is you don't say anything until 12 weeks or something like
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But she's 20 weeks and she's well, she's healthy.
Yep.
She's doing awesome.
That's pretty exciting for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's awesome.
We actually just had a, like a scan a couple of days ago.
And did you find anything out?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We know.
But we're not telling anyone.
Hold on.
But you know.
Yep.
That's cool.
And the stuff that they can do now is nuts.
In terms of the scanning?
Yeah.
It was insane.
I know.
The heart, the arteries and-
Yeah.
You see the blood pumping and everything.
Yeah.
It's nuts.
Yeah, yeah.
That must sort of take you to a whole new level.
Yeah.
And especially knowing that your business is stable.
I mean, that's pretty important.
Yeah.
The business you're in is stable.
Yeah.
You know, in terms of finance and stuff like that.
Because you want to be able to, you know, it was like growing up, you want to be able
to support your family well and make sure there's a house for them to live in and the
kids can get properly educated and they can do the sorts of things that you were allowed
to do.
Yeah.
You don't want to be on Struggle Street.
You know, it'd be a lot different if you were still picking up plates and-
Yeah.
Glasses at Redcliffe.
Yeah.
Yeah, it would be.
Do you feel like, I guess this is a bit of a weird question, but do you feel like a really
big sense of gratitude to Liv, Greg Norman?
I mean, they sort of, to some extent, didn't put you, but your skill got you there, but
they sort of found you.
Yeah.
Where does your gratitude lie?
I mean, or do you go back to your dad or how do you sort of scale your gratitude about
where Cam Smith is today, married?
I would say my parents first and foremost, they were the best.
They still are the best.
They did everything they needed to do to make sure my sister and I had the best life possible
and it was awesome.
And like, I mean, do you then say...
I feel like, because I mean, you're telling me about how you're going to try and, you
are giving back into the golf world, like to younger kids and you've got the scholarships
running, which come out of, they come out of your pocket, I guess, the scholarships.
Yeah.
Do you feel like then, in terms of being a parent yourself, soon enough, that you have
to try and repeat what your parents did for you?
Yeah.
That's a big job.
It's a big job.
Yeah.
Especially with how much we're traveling.
And all that stuff.
Yeah.
Like I said, I got so lucky.
You reckon?
Yeah.
Do you reckon it was luck?
No, I don't think it was luck.
I think my parents worked extremely hard to get us where we were.
But I got lucky in the sense that I had really great parents.
Yeah.
That's luck.
Yeah.
That's just luck.
Yeah.
Because we don't choose our parents.
No.
You know, like it's, that's not something we make a choice on.
So, and, you know, I know what you're saying because I'm in the same sort of category.
You know, it's like, and we know plenty of people that haven't had the same.
Yeah.
The same experience.
You talk about luck.
I mean, lots of people look up to people like you and they say, wow, what a great life he's
got.
You know, he gets to play golf with Donald Trump, who's now the president.
Who else do you play golf with?
Um, we.
Um, you know, through, through tournaments and stuff, we meet some pretty crazy people,
celebrities and, um, you know, big CEOs and, and all that stuff.
Um, me, me personally, I've got the worst memory of any person in the world.
You play with Tony Woods?
No, I haven't.
You haven't met him?
Yeah, I've met him.
Yeah.
Did he give you any tips?
Do those guys actually come to say, mate?
Well, I was competing, I was competing against him.
Oh, he's not giving you tips?
Yeah, he's not giving me tips.
We haven't met him in a social sense, though.
No.
Yeah.
No.
Um, what, what about, uh, Michael Jordan?
No, I haven't played with him.
You haven't played golf with him?
No.
Because all the top golfers, they end up somehow playing with Michael Jordan or, you know,
I don't know, uh, other people like, like Trump.
Because there are golf fanatics.
There are golf tragics in this world.
There are people who are golf tragics.
They're not golfers.
They are golfers, but they're not like you.
Yeah.
But they're tragics.
Yeah.
And it seems to me, because I mean, I, I watched you here in Australia with rugby league players.
They tend to go and play squash with some great squash player.
They go and play golf with a great golfer in Australia.
Um, and, uh, and it's sort of like mandatory when they, do people ring you up and say,
hey, did Trump ring you and say, hey, son, uh, can you move me down to Mar-a-Lago and
we're going to, I'm going to go down to the course?
Yeah, it didn't quite work like that, but yeah, pretty much.
And I mean, when you got, when you got someone like that asking you to play, it's pretty
hard to say no, so.
Yeah.
But do you sometimes feel as though you're sort of being pushed around the joint, like
because I'm.
You know, you're a famous golfer and they're a, let's call it a celebrity in their case,
in the case of Trump at the time.
Um, how do you feel about that?
What do you think?
I mean, because we're Aussies, you know, like we're different.
Yeah.
A little bit different.
You know, we don't seek out fame and all that sort of stuff.
Yeah.
I would, I would say, um, I've definitely said no before because I feel like it wasn't
the right thing to do, whether it be for, you know, for my golf or, or whatever.
But, um.
Um, yeah, I've never, never really tried to seek that, you know, attention.
Because, you know, you, you have a brand.
I mean, part of the, you know, Cameron Smith is a brand in golf.
Yeah.
And that makes your money.
That's your lifestyle.
Yeah.
That's, you know, it supports your lifestyle and your now family, bigger responsibility
than you've ever had before.
Yeah.
How important is it to protect that brand?
And are you really conscious of that?
Like, um, yeah, I, I think.
I, I definitely am.
Um, you know, and I, I think, uh, I, I just love coming back home, you know, because I
can be the person that I want to be.
And Australians are so laid back, you know, I can go to the pub and have a beer and they,
someone might come and tap me on the shoulder and, you know, say what's up or can we get
a photo or whatever, but it's never, um, and that's, that's what I want my brand to be
is like an easygoing, you know, larrikin, like you said before.
That can, that can just do all the things that he wants to do with these mates.
And, uh, I think that's what Australia allows me to do.
So that's why I love being back.
But do you have like a, would you employ, say a brand manager's type of person, like
someone who can manage your brand, like in a professional sense?
Um, yeah, I think.
Like do they accept interviews or?
Yeah, I, I think now, uh, you know, through time I've, I've obviously got, um, agents
who represent me and, and now we've got the, uh, a GM for, for Ripper and all.
Yeah.
All this stuff.
And yeah, there is, there definitely is a sense that, um, you know, there's, there's
almost yes and no's, you know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This isn't, this isn't for me.
This is for me.
Um, yeah.
But your call or their call or they just say, hey mate.
Kind of like a team call I would say.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So let's talk about Ripper.
Yeah.
Um, who are your teammates?
Uh, I've got the three best teammates out there.
I've got, uh, Mark Leishman, uh, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert.
Um, Lucas was, uh.
Uh, uh, new addition this year.
Um, and really could not have worked out any better for us.
We won three times this year.
Um, Leish and Jonesy have been there for a couple of years.
Leish actually come over at the same time as what I did.
Um, we're.
You mean come across to live?
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
So we, we, uh, yeah, we came across at the same time.
Like I mentioned before, Leish is a really good mate of mine now.
And it was kind of like, well, if you do it, I'll do it.
If you do it, I'll do it.
That went on for, it seemed like forever.
At the time.
But, um, yeah, so that's, that's been awesome.
And, and the four of us is not only the four of us, also the caddies, um, the people around
the trainers, the coaches, all of us have, um, bonded so much.
And we do have, uh, such a unique team culture, um, you know, being all Australians and, and
having that, you know, that way of just saying something without it meaning anything, the
Australian way.
Um, and, and having really good fun doing it.
So it's, it's been awesome.
So you're the captain.
Yep.
So just explain the structure to it, to me.
So, um, Liv pays the team or pays you and you choose the team.
How's it all work?
Like.
Yeah.
So that was kind of the way at the start, I would say now it's more, um, the teams are
almost run individually now.
So there's 13 teams.
Yep.
Um, there's 54 guys.
Um.
And, you know, for example, last year bringing Lucas on, that was, um, a decision that, that
I wanted to have him because he was such a great golfer and I knew his potential.
Um, that was something that I put forward to, to Ripper and to Liv, uh, to, to bring
him on.
And then they kind of went through the process.
I'm not smart enough to be writing up documents and, um, getting lawyers and all that stuff.
Um, yeah.
So that.
When you say to Ripper, you mean your teammates?
Uh, to the, to the GM and.
To the GM of Ripper.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But do your other teammates get consulted?
Is it, is it a process?
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
We spoke about it for sure.
Um, and you know, there was a lot of other guys that were on that list as well, but we've,
we've thought Lucas was the best, um, fit for us.
And yeah, like I said, he come in and he, uh, particularly the last two thirds of the
year, he started to kind of get on his feet.
I think he was a bit worried about standing on everyone's toes.
When he first come in and really was, um, not, not awkward, but just didn't have a sense
of belonging.
And then the more time he hung out with us and, and got to know us, that's, you know,
that's when he fired up and really started to play some good golf.
Cause, cause golf is, you know, one of the toughest thing about golf.
So I think is, it's very much an individual game.
You're out there playing your game and, uh, you're sort of on your own apart from your
caddy and stuff like that.
But what this concept is, is like teamwork.
Yeah.
And you're now taking a different role.
It's more of a leadership role.
Yeah.
And what if, it's a big deal.
It's a hard one.
You're a leader.
It's, yeah, it is hard.
Um, and with guys that are older than you.
Yeah.
Particularly when guys are older than you and have been doing it for longer.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
So, uh, you know, the biggest thing for me is making sure everyone gets along.
Um, and that was a really easy job.
Um, I'm sure through time there'll be some, you know,
situations that come up with maybe different guys that come in in the future and all that
stuff.
Um, but for me, it's about everyone getting along and everyone just doing what they have
to do to be a better golfer.
Um, and that for me is just, you know, we get together, play a practice round.
We might do a putting drill.
Um.
Who sets that out though?
Who sets out the drills and this is the GM or is it you?
No, I, I do.
You do?
Yeah.
So, so you're sort of like, sort of like the coach, if you know what I mean?
Like.
Yeah, ish.
Ish, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I wouldn't say I'm a coach by any means, but it's like, you know, just little things where
it gets your brain working, gets you, you know, being competitive, I think is a really
important part to, um, being a great golfer.
I think, you know, I think anyone can stand on the range and, um, you know, hit the ball
as good as they want to hit it if they hit, you know, so many balls, but, um, being a
great competitor is what wins, is what wins you.
And that's getting in that competitive spirit early in the week, competing against each
other, competing within the team, I think is really important.
And I think that's why, um, you know, we had so much success this year.
But if one of the players, as you're in that role, if one of the players, like, let's say
Lushman is sort of, if you suspect he's not feeling great, like, don't know me physically,
but maybe not quite there, ready, do you, hey mate, what's going on?
Do you say, do you want to talk?
Like, I don't know, how does that work?
Um, you know, thankfully we haven't had one of those situations so far.
I don't know what I would, um, what I would do.
I would, I would definitely, I'd definitely talk to them, um, for sure.
Um, but I think, you know, we've all been, you know, all of us have been individual professionals
for so long.
So it's, um, you know, it's kind of nice in the fact that, you know,
when something's wrong, you know, when something's up, you kind of almost go and do it yourself
without even knowing you're doing it, if that makes sense.
So, um, yeah, so we really haven't had one of those moments, you know, yet, but.
But are you, are you watching for this sort of stuff?
I mean, I, because there's some, you know, like you've, does someone, has someone at
Live, for example, prepared you for this leadership role?
Like, is, do they come out and say, mate, okay, you're now the captain.
These are things you're, you know.
No, not, not particularly.
I think, I think, yeah, I think I've kind of gone out of my own way a little bit to,
you know, to ask some guys in some leadership roles, their advice.
Um, you know, guys like, um, Adam Reynolds at the Broncos, I think he's a great leader
and I definitely got some advice off him at the end of last year.
Um.
Especially when he did his bicep.
Yeah.
Jeez.
What an idiot.
What did he do that for?
There was nothing, you know, there was nothing in it.
He just, he just like literally tapped him.
Yeah.
And the bicep just popped.
Yeah, I know.
That's eight.
That's nine.
That's age.
No, no, it is.
No, it is.
I know you, cause like you get tenons, you know, over time, but he's probably hit it
so many times.
Yeah, exactly.
The tenons would have been a bit.
He's looking fit at the moment.
Does he look good?
Yeah, he looks good.
I'm excited.
He's your Broncos fan.
What'd you think of, um, uh, Kevi being cut?
Um, I don't know what to think of it, to be honest.
And I'm probably not in a, in a space to really comment on it because I, I don't know the
club that well.
I don't.
But you love Kevi.
I mean, everyone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely love Kevi.
Um, you know, he was one of our best players ever.
Yeah.
Um, and he won maybe more premierships than anyone else as well.
So yeah, it's, it's definitely sad to see him go, but at the same time, we're excited.
I feel like the fans are excited to, um, you know, see what this next kind of step can
bring.
Do you mean, cause Madge of course is, you know, fortunately, um, I'm a New South Welshman.
So, and I know Madge quite well.
So Madge actually got us over the line.
This year against Queensland.
How does Queensland feel like that?
I mean, but we're not, we're off golf, but this is an important topic, rugby league, mate.
Uh, so, uh, how does Queenslanders, how does a Brisbane Broncos supporter feel about a
New South Wales coach coming in to take over, say a legend of rugby league, which is Kevi
Holtz?
Yeah.
Um.
Did you get a shock when it was Madge's name was announced?
Yeah, a little bit.
Um, like I said, I think, I think we're all excited.
Um, you know, he's, he's definitely one of the best at his job.
Um, and, and that's a good thing for us.
It, it is a bit weird to have a New South Welshman runner.
Well, he knows Reynolds.
Yeah.
He's a coach Reynolds at South.
Yeah, exactly.
Um, yeah.
So I don't know.
I, I'm, I'm just, I'm just really hoping it was the right decision and, um, I guess we'll
see that through time.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Final question.
I mean, or final.
Yeah.
I'll just put it to you.
What, what's the future for you, like, and future for you and your team, but also the
future for Cameron Smith.
What do you see yourself in 10 years time when you're 41, for example?
Um.
Cause golf's got a long, long tail on it.
You can play for a long time.
Yeah.
It's often some, something that I think about and I think I, I changed my answer, you know,
with what, um, you know, with how much golf I'm going to play, uh, particularly, you know,
every two weeks, every time I think about it, I'm like, ah, no, I'm not going to play
that long.
Oh.
I might play that long.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
Um, so, and I've always been a cruisy kind of guy.
So I think I'll just kind of wait it out until, you know, someone taps me on the shoulder
and tells me to piss off.
But, um.
Yeah.
You're not, you're not, you're too old.
Yeah, exactly.
Particularly in the environment that we're in now, uh, where the team, where you're not
only playing for yourself, you're playing for three other guys.
I would hate to be in a position where, you know, you do get a little bit older and, you're
you are letting the team down.
I never want to be that guy.
Yeah.
So, um, but, but the team and, and stuff, it's, it's so exciting.
Um, the stuff that we talk about at meetings, um, you know, not, not only within the team,
but within the league, um, you know, being so worldwide, I think is a really great thing
for us.
We travel a lot, but I think we also bring a really good product to, to places that haven't
seen, you know, world-class golfers.
And, um, yeah, so I'm, I'm really excited as a team, but as a tour, I think, um, you
know, we're going to go from strength to strength.
And, um, I think as time goes on, we're going to have better players.
We're going to have more depth and I think we're going to be the tour.
And, and just finally, how's your body holding up?
I mean, how do you, cause you play a lot of golf and you have played a lot of golf.
Yep.
How are you holding up?
Yeah, good.
Um, I would say I would owe a lot of that to my trainer.
And, and my physio, there's definitely a lot of work that goes into, um, not only trying
to become stronger, but trying to become more resilient, um, because we do get our body
in some weird and basically shitty places.
It shouldn't be doing it.
Um, but I would say the last couple of years, um, you know, age has kind of hit me a little
bit, you know, you wake up, you're like, oh, geez, that rib hurts.
What did I do there?
And you're like, I did nothing.
Yeah.
So it's, um.
So that's, that's definitely getting to me, but, um, you know, there's always a way to,
to work that out.
So I'm, I'm holding up good.
And you still, you still got that, um, um, deep desire for majors, more majors?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think, um, particularly the last, you know, last, last year or this year, I, I felt like
I played okay in the majors.
Um, I felt like I did a lot of really good prep.
Um, and usually when I do a lot of really good prep.
Some really good results come and they didn't really come for me this year.
Um, and that was really frustrating.
And I think that's made me particularly through this off season.
Um, whereas pro where probably I slacked a little bit, um.
In last off season.
Yeah.
In the last off season, this, this off season, it's, it's been about golf and it's been about,
you know, the masters, you know, that's our first major of the year.
When is that?
When is that?
Uh, that's.
April.
April.
So you've got like, uh, let's say six months.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's, you know, when the British open finishes, uh, which is in, uh, July, August,
um, when that finishes, everyone automatically, you can see the whole focus of the golfing
world, not only the players, but, um, I think particularly the players, but the whole focus
goes back to what can we do to make ourselves better before the masters.
Um, and I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job.
So far, and it's definitely, uh, it's definitely something that I, I need to keep getting better
at is just preparing in the off season, making sure I'm ready to go.
And, um, yeah, so far, so good.
Does, does the live structure allow you to prepare better or, or, or it hampers you because
I mean, you're, you're over here now for what, for a couple of weeks, um, you're, you're
obviously not where you normally would train.
You would, you're not in your normal training camp, um, or place of training.
Yeah.
Does that interruption sort of cause a problem?
I think, you know, I think that's what I learned last year.
And, um, I've always been, I think I've always been a really good learner with what works
and what doesn't.
Um, and I've always taken what works and what doesn't and kind of made it my own and, and
then you kind of go from there.
Um, so last year I, I definitely struggled a little bit through that preparation and,
and through getting down here and, and playing and, um, yeah.
So, um.
I'm definitely doing a better job and, um, you know, hopefully this year is the year
that I do it all right and we can get out to, to Augusta in, in April and, um, make
it all work.
Well, as one of Australia's, from my point of view, I don't think I'm speaking on behalf
of a lot of people, it was one of our greatest exports, sporting exports at least.
Thanks.
We wish you all the best, mate.
Thank you.
It's been a great privilege.
Yeah.
Thanks, mate.
Cheers.
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