Cameron Smith Profile

Cameron Smith is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and turned professional in 2013.

Smith enjoyed a fine amateur career down under and used it to propel himself into an undemonstrative but excellent professional campaign.

He started life in the pro ranks on the Asian Tour and progressed to the PGA Tour via a top five finish at Chambers Bay in the 2015 US Open.

Since then, progress has been smooth, collecting the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in partnership with Jonas Blixt before adding back-to-back success in the Australian PGA Championship on his home circuit.

Shortly after enjoying a Presidents Cup debut on home soil in late 2019, Smith claimed his first solo success at the highest level, with victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

His fondness for thriving late in the year was confirmed when he landed a career-best Major performance of tied second at the November 2020 Masters.

Smith was prolific on the Australian amateur circuit. In 2011 he won the Australian Boys' Amateur, Australian Amateur stroke play and the Victorian Junior Masters.

A year later he was medalist at the Australian Amateur and in 2013, he won the tournament. That same year, he turned professional and began playing on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Smith played on the Asian Tour in 2014 and finished in the top 10 seven times, ultimately ending the year fifth on the Order of Merit.

The highlight of that year was a runner-up finish at the 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters in just his second start, but key to his future advancement was his tied fourth in the CIMB Classic in October. The tournament is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour and it got his foot in the door.

Sponsor's exemptions followed and he made solid rather than spectacular use of them, with e best finish of T15th at the RBC Heritage.

But he was using his time wisely and gained a spot in the field at the 2015 US Open via Sectional Qualifying. In the main event itself he tied for fourth alongside compatriot Adam Scott and South Africa's Branden Grace, flying home on a wet sail in shooting 70-70-69-68.

His performance earned him Special Temporary Membership for the rest of the 2015 PGA Tour season and an invitation to the 2016 Masters, where he finished T55th.

He also earned enough as a non-member to finish the year in the top 125 on the money list and gain a full PGA Tour card.

2016 was a struggle in comparison. He finished 157th in the FedExCup points standings and had to regain his playing rights at the Web.com Tour Finals, but grabbing the second at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship secured them.

Late in the year he returned home for the Emirates Australian Open and was defeated by Jordan Spieth in a playoff.

In May 2017 Smith earned a first professional win in partnership with Sweden's Jonas Blixt at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. They defeated Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner in a playoff after avoiding making bogey throughout all 72 holes in regulation.

"It was pretty cool to knock the putt in for the win," said Smith. "I guess it would have felt a little bit different if Jonas had done it for my first win.

"It felt like the longest I've ever hit." In reality, it has 3-feet.

Blixt added: "You support each other and it feels good to have someone to lean on. Having a great teammate like him, it's a walk in the park."

Smith ended the year 46th in the FedExCup rankings, comfortably a career-best effort, and used the momentum late in the year.

He opened the 2017-18 PGA Tour season with tied-fifth in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and third at the CJ Cup in South Korea.

His return down under maintained the progress. He was fourth at the Emirates Australian Open and then claimed a first individual win in the Australian PGA Championship, beating Jordan Zunic in a playoff.

"Neither my mum or dad were there for the win in New Orleans," Smith said. "To be able to win in front of them and in front of other family and friends, and then also winning in Queensland, makes it so much more special to me.

"I haven't even had time to process that but it's been a really good year. My goals this year were to win one down here and it's nice to tick that one-off."

A year later Smith defended his title at the Australian PGA Championship, winning by two strokes over Marc Leishman.

"I'm lost for words, I'm hopeless at this," he said in a video posted on the European Tour's Twitter page, describing the win as "pretty special".

Maintaining his trend for successful returns home, in December 2019 he was part of the International team in the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, going 1-1-1 and winning his Sunday singles match against Justin Thomas as the USA won 16-14.

In the aftermath of that effort, many of the Australians claimed success around the world, citing the match as inspiration, and Smith was among them.

He opened the 2020 Sony Open at Waialae with a difficult round of 70, but he closed 65-66-68 to catch long-time leader Brendan Steele who he then defeated in a playoff.

"Things fell into place," he said afterwards.

At the 2020 Masters, Smith finished tied second behind Dustin Johnson, becoming the first golfer in Masters history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s (67-68-69-69).

Smith has reportedly been in a relationship with fellow golfer Jordan Ontiveros since 2016.

According to Spotrac, Smith has amassed over $14.1million in career earnings. In 2019/20, he picked up $445,333 in bonus earnings from the Tour Championship, according to the same website.