Barefoot Smith’s ‘holy c**p’ moment as countryman crumbles: Australian at the PGA Championship
In a position where plenty of Cameron Smith’s competitors would have felt lost, the Australian was right at home — not that he wanted to be there in the first place.
It wasn’t exactly ideal that Smith, aiming for one of two fairways on the seventh — his 16th hole of the day — instead ending up in the stream in between the two.
So, with shoes and socks off and pants rolled up, a barefoot Smith entered the mud with no fuss, waiting for his caddie to hand him a wedge before nonchalantly making par.
ROUND ONE WRAP: All the biggest highlights amid Schauffele statement
ROUND ONE LEADERBOARD: Record-breaking day for the early leader
Watch every round of the PGA Championship LIVE & Exclusive to Fox Sports, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
While the team from No Laying Up, whose commentary was available on ESPN2’s alternate stream of the opening round, was joking that Smith the fisherman was probably used to wading through streams they were quickly caught by surprise as the unfazed Australian got the ball back in play.
“Holy crap,” Chris Solomon said.
“No delay,” added Neil Schuster.
“Didn’t think about it. Didn’t take any waggles. That’s great execution.”
It was just one highlight on a solid first day for Smith, who carded a three-under-par 68 to lead the Australian contingent and sit six shots behind record-setting leader Xander Schauffle.
“I actually hit the ball quite well probably the first 12 or 13 holes there,” Smith said, having recorded four birdies in his first 13 holes to put himself well in contention early before an errant drive on the par-4 fifth saw Smith bogey for the first and only time on Friday.
“Kind of let go of it a little bit at the end, but everything felt really good. I managed to get a few good par saves and kind of keep the momentum going for tomorrow,” Smith added.
“It’s going be a long week. I think you know that at the start of the week anyway. It’s a major week. It’s always more demanding.
“So plenty of rest this afternoon, maybe hit a few balls, clean some stuff up and get a good sleep tonight.”
Smith’s LIV teammate Lucas Herbert, who received a special invitation to the PGA Championship, also impressed and is positioned nicely after a two-under 69.
Herbert recorded two bogeys in his first five holes before recovering with four-straight birdies, telling PGA of America after the opening round that he was pleased with his response to the tough start.
“I think everything was kind of decent but nothing was amazing,” Herbert said.
“I think I holed out really well, holed some nice five footers, some sort of eight footers just to keep my momentum through the round.
“I obviously got off to a poor start there but then caught that back up with four birdies so just to keep that momentum going through the back nine and not drop any shots when I maybe struggled a bit to get some good looks at birdie definitely helped me finish with the score I did.”
The news isn’t as good on Adam Scott, who finished with a one-over round of 72 while it was even worse for Cam Davis, who started the day with five bogeys and a double on his way to a nightmare opening round seven-over 78.
Min Woo Lee, meanwhile, like Scott finished one-over after a mixed day which saw him record two early bogeys (and four overall) but somewhat recover with three birdies, including one on the final hole.
Elsewhere, Jason Day also birdie on his final hole to close out an even-par opening round which was a rollercoaster early on, recording three bogeys and just as many birdies on the front nine.
AUSTRALIANS AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
T18: Cameron Smith -3
T32: Lucas Herbert -2
T65: Jason Day E
T85: Adam Scott +1
T85: Min Woo Lee +1
T150: Cam Davis +7