Cam Smith opens up about devastation at Augusta and explains how a coaching switch aims to halt his major slump before the PGA Championship.
A major slump doesn’t usually sound like a turning point, but Cam Smith’s latest comments carry the unmistakable weight of someone reaching for a reset.
Smith said he left last month’s Masters “completely disillusioned” with his game. following rounds of 74 and 77 that extended a painful pattern: the Australian has missed the cut in six consecutive majors.. The result was especially stark for a player who only a few years ago was operating at the top of elite golf. when he was ranked second in the world.
At the time. Smith was not just near the summit—he was the reigning champion in two of golf’s five most important competitions. including The Players and The Open.. Now. he hasn’t played a weekend in one of the sport’s four biggest tournaments since the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst.. For a golfer known for natural flair and a short game that can swing momentum quickly. the current spell has felt like a jarring decline.
In an interview carried earlier this year. Smith pushed back against suggestions that his competitive edge has dulled since joining the LIV Golf League in the months after his breakthrough win at the Old Course in 2022.. He argued that the idea doesn’t fit the reality of his work ethic. saying it’s frustrating when people connect “average play” to a change of tour or to an assumption that he isn’t pushing himself hard enough.
Instead. Smith described what the slump has done to his golf at a more personal level: after leaving Augusta National. he moved from mourning the result to searching for a different direction.. Preparing for this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink. he said he was “pretty devastated” after his first practice round. explaining that he felt he had put in significant effort over the past year and a half without seeing it translate into performance.
That search for answers quickly became a coaching change.. The report said that. as first called by Australian journalist Evin Priest. Smith has turned to Claude Harmon III—an experienced coach with a major-winning lineage. being the son of the sport’s most famous coach. Butch.. Harmon had also been part of Smith’s LIV connection. where he works with Dustin Johnson. and the new setup is now central to Smith’s attempt to repair his swing.
Smith described the adjustment as more than technique—it’s a shift in how he thinks during the swing.. He said he had reached a point where he was trying to manage “so many things” that he couldn’t actually commit to the shot. a position he said nobody would call enjoyable.. Harmon. he said. simplified the process and encouraged a smaller set of ideas. aiming to let Smith hit the golf shot rather than chase multiple thoughts.
Those changes are already feeding into how Smith feels about his own game in the present.. He said it has started to feel good again and that he can commit to different shots. adding that the work is “coming along nicely.” The report also noted that Harmon’s familiarity with LIV and his time spent with Dustin Johnson means he brings a well-established approach to the environment Smith is operating within.
But the switch hasn’t been a simple swap of one coach for another.. Smith also made the difficult decision to part ways with longtime swing coach Grant Field. with whom he has worked since he was a child.. He said it was a “terrible, terrible conversation,” describing the separation as emotionally hard because Field is also a friend.. Still, Smith maintained that the move is the right one for his golf and that he has chosen it intentionally.
Looking ahead to the PGA Championship test at Aronimink. Smith and his supporters are now hoping the coaching overhaul becomes the spark needed on the biggest stages.. Even while results have stalled. the report said his creativity around the greens remains an undeniable strength. which could help him navigate what he called “super funky” putting surfaces this week.
For Smith, the immediate goal is practical: go out, play the holes, and rebuild confidence.. He said he just needs to get on the course. do it. and recover some belief—an attitude that. in his account. is tied directly to the idea that “the fire is in the belly” and the work to turn things around before the slump hardens into something bigger than a rough patch.
Cam Smith major slump PGA Championship Claude Harmon III Grant Field LIV Golf Aronimink