The 2025 season might not be what Cam Smith had hoped for. The Aussie is returning home after a year he called “frustrating.” Yet, his eyes do have a little spark. He will be going back home to his newborn baby. And with that comes another prospect, another challenge that the 2022 Open Championship winner would want to conquer.
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The Brisbane native can flip the script by lifting the Joe Kirkwood Cup for the fourth time. But this time, he will have his baby boy, Remy, in the crowd. And that could be his new mission.
“Yeah, that would be cool,” Cam Smith said to the Australian Golf Digest. “I haven’t really thought about that because I’ve been playing like c—-, but that would be awesome. And maybe that’s a good thing to think about and get me amped up for this week.” A little self-deprecating, but that’s typical Smith.
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But of course, there’s a reason why he’s being hard on himself. The 32-year-old kept looking for consistency this season. Yet, he missed the cut in all four majors and two OWGR events, including the Asian Tour International Series. As a LIV player, that might sting.
Talking about LIV, he did show some decent performances there. Smith was able to secure five top-10 results, including a T5 in Mexico City and a T7 at Andalucia. But that was pretty much all. That’s why this win at the Australian PGA Championship on his home soil is important. And considering his past results, he could actually achieve it.
Smith knows Royal Queensland better than arguably anyone else on the field. “[It’s] a course that I love,” he says. Smith won there in 2022, securing a 14-under par and taking home €2 M ($2.3 M).
This week, if he ends up replicating that, the Joe Kirkwood Trophy will come home to him for a record fourth time (He won previously in 2017, 2018, and, of course, 2022). Then he also has the 2025 Crown Australian Open scheduled for December.
“I’m looking forward to [the Australian PGA and Open],” he shared. “I think just being at home brings that [playfulness] back a little bit as well, and obviously having success here at ‘RQ’ probably helps.”
He would surely need that help, because the field at the BMW-sponsored event will be packed. He will have to contest players like Min Woo Lee and Marco Penge. Lee had his first PGA Tour title win at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Whereas Penge had a career-defining season with three wins (the recent at Open de Espana) and a runner-up finish. He’s currently ranked second on the Race to Dubai standings.
“I’m trying to go out there and not worry about it so much…I think what I need to do is prepare well and then just forget about it.”
For all is worth, he will have his family to support him out there. Especially a special someone on a baby stroller. Of course, this will not be the first time he’s won after the arrival of his son. But it will be the first time winning in front of him. And for all we know, it will indeed be special, as it has been for others.
After Tiger Woods won his 2019 Masters, his emotions were visible. It wasn’t just his first tournament victory that Charlie witnessed, but also his first major championship win in nearly 11 years.
“That’s what makes it special for both of us,” Woods said after the victory.
And then just this year, when Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam at Augusta, he had Poppy and his wife Erica on the course. The moment was emotional for everyone, as the Northern Irishman fell to his knees, hugging his family.
We are sure Smith would want the same. “…Hopefully, I can go out and put on a great performance.”
As a new dad, this will be the perfect way to end the year.
Fatherhood: A new chapter for Cam Smith
Cameron Smith’s life shifted earlier this year when he and his wife, Shanel Naoum, welcomed baby Remy. The couple had already shared their pregnancy late last year, just before the Australian Open. It was in July 2024, when Smith finished as runner-up to Jon Rahm, that he himself found out the news.
“We found out in London. We had a really cool moment,” he told Australian Golf Digest.
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And since Remy has come, Smith has not let a chance go by to talk about it. He has admitted that he’s “more excited than anything.” Baby Remy has been a good-luck charm for his LIV Golf team, as Ripper GC won this year in Miami.
And that’s why he is also contemplating introducing his son to golf. “I’ll lead him to water, but you can’t make him drink at the end of the day…I’ll support whatever he wants to do.”
For Cam Smith, golf is the greatest sport ever. It teaches manners and etiquette, and patience. And that’s why he would want Remy to play it one day. But also, being a father comes with its own set of challenges, something he acknowledges as well.
“There will be a lot of responsibility and a lot more pressure, but I think that in itself makes you work harder and makes you a better person and maybe a better golfer.”
Written by
Edited by
Shreya Singh