Australian golfer Cam Smith has admitted he is feeling the pressure ahead of the Masters later this month, one of the few remaining tournaments for him to improve his chances of selection for the Paris Olympics.
Australia’s Olympic golf team is chosen based on the official World Golf rankings, but Smith’s decision to join the Saudi-backed LIV tour – which does not attract rankings points – has seen him tumble to No 62 in the world, even though the 2022 Open Championship winner is widely considered to be Australia’s best golfer.
Only two men’s spots are available for Paris, and Smith’s countrymen Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Davis are ranked above the Queenslander.
Smith said Paris has been in the back of his mind. “It’s desperately a place that I want to get to and represent Australia,” he said on Tuesday.
He will play at Donald Trump’s Doral course at the LIV round in Miami this weekend before the Masters begins at Augusta the following week, starting a period that will make or break his Olympic ambitions.
“I have to play well to get there, I know I have to play well, and I’m probably only going to get three or four shots at it before they make the selection,” he said. “I guess it is more pressure.”
Smith recorded his best performance of the season in tying for second in LIV Hong Kong last month.
Other majors – which also allow LIV players to compete for rankings points – quickly follow the Masters. The PGA Championship will be held in May and the US Open is in June.
The Australian men’s Olympic places will be confirmed on 17 June ahead of the Paris Games which start on 26 July.
Minjee Lee and Hannah Green – who are both ranked in the top 20 – look likely to be selected for the women’s competition. If both are in the top 15 in June, Australia would receive an extra place. Grace Kim is next highest at No 77.
A mooted merger between LIV and the PGA Tour, announced last June, has made little progress in the past year. The deadline of 31 December passed without a binding agreement, and the different entities appear to be pursuing their own interests. LIV signed Masters champion Jon Rahm in December.
Smith said the merger is not something he has worried about, but a lot of players, including himself, are happier with the lighter LIV schedule.
“I have probably got another four or five weeks off every year [in] the last couple of years and been able to spend more time in Australia. I don’t know if I’m willing to sacrifice being away from my family and stuff,” he said.
“If they had to play more, I’m not sure how happy everyone would be.”
Smith played alongside his LIV teammate Marc Leishmann for Australia at the Olympics in Tokyo, and finished in a tie for 10th – one shot out of the medals – after bogeying the final hole.
After the Masters, the 30-year-old will return to Australia for LIV’s Adelaide event which starts on 26 April.
Smith said the players are looking forward to it after its first iteration drew large crowds last year.
“It was probably a unanimous decision on the whole tour that that was the best event that we had,” he said.