U.S. Open: Cam Smith finishes T4 with a 67 final round

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Open has not been a kind major to Cam Smith in recent years. The Australian hadn’t finished inside the top 30 since a T-4 at Chambers Bay in 2015.

The success he found in the wide fairways of Washington state rolled over this weekend to Los Angeles Country Club, where Smith fired three rounds in the 60s and closed with a Sunday 67 to post a T-4 finish.

Full-field scores from U.S. Open

But as he leaves Southern California, Smith believes a better start to the tournament could have provided an even more meaningful breakthrough at this national championship.

“The U.S. Open typically hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for me. Probably due to lack of driver accuracy, especially the first couple of days. Really hit that driver in the fairway and give myself a lot of opportunities,” Smith said.

“I feel like if I had to reflect, those first two days for me is where the putts just didn’t quite drop, and definitely should have been a little bit further up the leaderboard.”

Overall, Smith hit 35-of-52 fairways this week.

After a slow start, his putter was hot Sunday, ranking eighth in the field with 2.53 strokes gained.

He also had his usual prowess around the greens on full display, especially on the Par-5 14th. After finding an impossible position inside the left greenside bunker with his second shot, Smith elected to guide his ball into a more favorable spot in the sand. From there, he promptly got up-and-down for par.

Despite starting the round seven shots off the lead, Smith felt like he had an opportunity to win after a birdie on No. 6, but he gave the shot back on the ensuing hole.

There are two LIV events on the calendar before Smith returns to Great Britain hoping to defend his title at The Open Championship. He’s building momentum, too, as this weekend followed up a strong performance and T-8 finish at the PGA Championship in May.

Winning at Royal Liverpool will require a simple strategy.

“The difference to winning the golf tournaments and not winning, just keep that driver on a string,” he said.