Few pro golfers have fallen further over the past two years than LIV Golf pro Cameron Smith. But the 2022 Open Champion, who is winless in his last two years, has suddenly rediscovered the magic in his home country.
On Friday at the 2025 Crown Australian Open, Smith did something he hasn’t done all season: he made the cut. But he did far more than that. With 36 holes to go, Smith is eyeing an end to his winless drought.
The 2025 season has been one to forget for Smith. Just two years ago, fresh off wins at the Players and Open Championships, he had one of the brightest futures in golf.
After leaving the PGA Tour for LIV, he quickly captured three LIV wins in 2022 and 2023. But since then, Smith has fallen off the map.
‘In my head:’ LIV star Cam Smith baffled by poor form after another missed cut
Smith’s best finish on LIV in 2025 was a T5. In seven tournaments outside of LIV, including all four major championships, he failed to make a single cut. As recently as last week, after missing the cut at the Australian PGA Championship, Smith said his problems were “in my head.”
As a result, he’s fallen from 2nd in the Official World Golf Ranking in late 2022 all the way down to his current position of 354th.
But his home open, played at iconic Royal Melbourne, has inspired a comeback.
In Thursday’s opening round, Smith made four birdies, but he added three bogeys to finish at one under and start the second round at risk of missing yet another cut.
But on Friday, Smith put any worries about extending his missed-cut streak to rest. He made six birdies for a bogey-free 65 in Round 2.
Not only did that put him seven shots clear of the cut line, it got him within two shots of the lead held by Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Daniel Rodrigues. While Smith has won the Australian PGA Championship three times, most recently in 2022, he’s never won the Australian Open.
Fellow Australian major champion Adam Scott is tied with Smith at seven under.
That's gotta feel good for Cam Smith
— Australian Open (@AusOpenGolf) December 5, 2025
Arguably his best round all year, and he's T4 going into the weekend #AusOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/T48H5avpCn
Despite Smith being a homegrown Australian star, he’s not the biggest draw in the field. That would be World No. 2 Rory McIlroy.
‘That’s my opinion’: Rory McIlroy drops hot take about iconic host course
McIlroy committed to playing this week’s Australian Open months ago as part of his plan to play more historic opens around the world.
Despite slighting the host course Royal Melbourne earlier in the week, McIlroy’s presence has elevated the event to new heights.
But with four holes to play in Friday’s second round, McIlroy found himself on the wrong side of the cut line and staring down an early flight home.
A bogey at the par-5 14th dropped him to even for the round and one over for the tournament. To play the weekend, McIlroy needed at least one birdie coming in.
He didn’t make one, he made three. The 2025 Masters champion made birdies at 15, 17 and 18 to shoot a 68. That left him at two under for the tournament, and two clear of the cut line.
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