Cameron Smith and his Ripper GC Teammate Matt Jones will be in strong contention to win the LIV Golf Adelaide when they tee up on Sunday. Both Aussie golfers went on to share their feelings about playing in front of their home crowd after the end of the second round.
When asked about the incredible support that they received at the Grange Golf Club, Jones described it as being “unbelievable.” He recalled seeing so many people chanting their names and walking alongside them. The 44-year-old said,
“They’ve been unbelievable. The amount of times people just yell at your name going down every hole is unbelievable, and it’s fantastic to see. They’ve showed up to support the team this week, and hopefully tomorrow can be a really good day for us. So, nothing could be better than a ripper win at LIV Adelaide.”
While Matt Jones finished in T9 rank, his captain Cam Smith ended up T5 on the leaderboard. The latter had mixed emotions on the 17th hole when he shot his ball to hit an old lady. The ball did bounce back to the green giving him a chance to earn a birdie, which he eventually got.
When asked about the bounce he got by the ball hitting the old lady on 17th, Smith said,
“I think it was a good bounce, for sure. I felt really bad for the old lady down there. I hit her in the back,… but it made her proud and made her birdie there, and she helped me out.
He hoped that that eased the pain for the lady a little bit.
Cam Smith Feels The Pressure of Performing At His Home Ground
The LIV Golf Adelaide already set a benchmark for the most attended LIV Golf tournament when over 70,000 golf enthusiasts attended the event last year. Even this year, a large gallery of the crowd is often seen behind Cam Smith and other Australians on every hole.
While speaking on the crowd support in his home country, Smith called it quite different from the other crowds across the globe. However, he highlighted that more support certainly put some sort of pressure.
“I think having support like we have this week is different to what we have 51 other weeks out of the year, so it’s a very different feeling. I think the support is amazing, but there’s also a lot of pressure put on you as well to perform.”
Smith added that he believed that every other Australian wanted them to win and that was a lot of weight on their shoulders. Nonetheless, they were ready for the next day.
Great crowds at LIV Adelaide. Cam Smith is a rockstar out there
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 26, 2024
Cam Smith is just three strokes behind Brendan Steele and will hope to overcome that as soon as he tees up at 11:35 am. He will be playing alongside Dean Bumster and Mito Pereira in the final round of LIV Golf Adelaide. And it will be interesting what ratings the Saudi-backed league manages to get if an Aussie wins the title.
