Cameron Smith Plays Golf In Sawgrass During Players Championship Opening Round
Cameron Smith spotted playing golf in Sawgrass, just a couple of miles away from where the Players Championship is taking place
Cameron Smith may not be able to defend his Players Championship title this week, but he did manage to tee it up in Sawgrass on Thursday – just not at THAT Sawgrass.
While Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the field took on TPC Sawgrass chasing victory in the PGA Tour’s flagship event, Smith was left wondering if he could even turn up as a spectator.
The Australian lives virtually on the doorstep in Ponte Vedra Beach, and after admitting that not being allowed to defend his title “stings a bit” he thought about going purely as a fan.
“I’d love to get out there,” he said. “I don’t know how it would be received. But going out there and walking around in the crowd might be pretty funny.”
Smith, though, instead decided to take his clubs and have a friendly round at a local $40 nine-hole track called The Yards, known as a “Beer Loop” for social golfers, which is just a couple of miles away from THE Sawgrass.
Golfweek reports that the Open champion posed for pictures and played with some friends at the facility, which is part of the Sawgrass Players Club – a group of amenities for local homeowners around the area.
Smith jumped to LIV Golf shortly after lifting the Claret Jug at St Andrews, and has previously said he’s comfortable with missing out on PGA Tour events as a consequence of the decision he made to join Greg Norman’s new tour.
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Not playing this week is odd though, with even PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan admitting that it was not an ideal situation to have the defending Players champion banned from trying to retain his title.
“Yes, it's awkward,” said Monahan. “But you know, ultimately that's a decision he made, and we've got an unbelievable field here this week and a history and tradition that one of these 144 is going to go seek to get.”
We’ll keep an eye out to see if Smith does actually make the short trip to Sawgrass and if he is spotted in the crowd of golf fans watching the even unfold.
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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