Cameron Smith has admitted his game isn’t exactly where he wants it to be ahead of his Open Championship defence next week.
The Australian won LIV Golf’s London tournament at the weekend on a score of 15 under, one shot ahead of Patrick Reed and Marc Leishman.
Despite three impressive rounds of golf at the Centurion Club which even included an 63 opening round, the 29-year-old believes he still has things to work on.
When asked if winning takes the pressure off heading into the 151st Open Championship, Smith said: “I wouldn’t say it really takes the pressure off. I think it’s just nice to be playing good golf.
“There’s nothing worse going into a big golf tournament and you’re playing crappy golf.
“There’s probably a few things to clean up if I want to contend in a couple of weeks’ time, but yeah, it’s still a big event. It’s still got all the biggest names there.
“It’s the Open Championship, so you want to do your best. There’s always that pressure. Just more of a confidence booster, I think.”
Smith is targeting back-to-back Open Championship victories and can join an exclusive list of players if he manages to achieve the feat in two weeks time.
The last player to do so was Padraig Harrington back in 2008 when he won his second Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.
Host venue this year, Royal Liverpool, is set to pose another tricky test, one that the Australian is already mentally preparing for with his shot selection.
“Even though it’s a links course, generally you have to hit a lot of different shots off tees,” added Smith. “If there’s one thing, I think it would just be tidy up that driver, and I’ll be set.”
