Open champion Cameron Smith 'holding back tears' as he hands back Claret Jug

2022 Open champion Cameron Smith and R&A CEO Martin Slumbers look at the Claret Jug after it was brought back by the Australian at the start of 151st Open week at Royal Liverpool. Picture: Tom Russo|Daily Reporter

It’s never easy handing back the Claret Jug. Just ask Cameron Smith, who thought he’d take that task in his stride at the start of the 151st Open week but found himself suddenly feeling emotional.

“I just had to hand back the trophy there,” said the Australian, last year’s winner after a sensational closing 64 at St Andrews, of what has become an official ceremony at the game’s oldest major. “I thought I was going to do all right, but I was actually holding back from tears. A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me.

“It wasn't hard to hand it back. I wasn't like not letting it go. I guess you don't think about and then, all of a sudden it's there, and, yeah, you want it back. [But] I'll be fine. I'll be able to sleep tonight (laughing).”

In what has become another tradition, the Australian was asked what had been the most memorable moment over the past 12 months with the Claret Jug in his possession. “Probably the funnest thing I did was I took it back to my home club in Brisbane and it was actually timed perfectly,” he said. “They had their presentation night. It was one of the first nights I got back to Australia, so brought the Claret Jug there, had all the members there, and, yeah, had a ripping night. For a little country club outside of Brisbane to have the Claret Jug in it I think was a pretty cool moment.”

Had he ever got up in the middle of the night to go and look at the trophy and check he’d actually won it? “I don't think it ever took any sleep away from me,” he insisted. “But there were definitely a few moments where you randomly walk into the office where it was for most of the year, and you're just going through some mail and you bump into it or something. It still doesn't feel real, even a year down the road.”

Not long after he’d denied Rory McIlroy with his stunning last-day effort on the Old Course, Smith joined LIV Golf, his switch to the breakaway circuit having been heavily rumoured straight after he’d joined Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman and Ian Baker-Finch as the only Australians to win The Open.

“No, I don't think so,” he replied to being asked if his LIV Golf status was a factor this week. “I think we're all here to win the Claret Jug and, basically, any one of these guys, if they have their week this week, is going to walk away with it.”

He’s “optimistic” about LIV Golf surviving as part of the game’s new landscape in the commercial merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). He also hopes LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman stays in his job. “I think he's doing a great job for our tour,” he said of his fellow Australian. “He's looking out for our best interesting. That's all you can ask of a guy that's running the show. Yeah, I'd love to see him keep on.”

Smith is in fine fettle for his title defence, having won LIV Golf’s latest event at the Centurion Club near St Albans. “I think I'm actually a better golfer now than what I was last year,” he mused. “I think the stuff that I had to clean up is progressing. I said this morning to someone that kind of my 5-iron and up has always been a bit of a struggle for me, and that's an area of the game that we've worked probably harder than we have on in the past.

“I've always been a person, I think, where I can make changes on the run, and I think that's helped me throughout these last three or four months. The driver just needs to behave itself.”

Hoylake has a history of producing strong winners, the last two having been Tiger Woods (2006) and Rory McIlroy (2014). It’s Smith’s first visit to the Merseyside venue and he’s excited by his first impression. “Yeah, it's a very strong test of golf out there,” he said.

The test on this occasions includes a brand-new 17th hole. “Yeah, that's probably the right word, drama,” he said of what it could deliver. “Yeah, it's a tough hole. We played it yesterday and it was straight into the wind, 30 or 40 miles an hour, and it was not a tee shot that you want to have. “I think I hit 7-iron in there yesterday. There's not much room for error up there, and I think it'll be a really exciting finish to an Open Championship for sure. I think it's a great hole.”

Could he arrive there on Sunday in the heat of another last-day duel with McIlroy, who won the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday? “Yeah, I guess that would be a good story for you guys to write about for sure,” he said, smiling. “There's plenty of guys here that given their week can be right up there on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure Rory will be one of them. He's played great golf the last few months here. It looked like he finally got one on and it may have opened the floodgates for him for sure. But, yeah, it would be a cool story for sure.”

As would him getting his hands back on the Claret Jug. “I want that thing back so bad,” he declared. “Yeah, that's what I've been saying to all my mates. It'll only be a week and we'll be drinking out of it again!”