{"id":350469,"date":"2023-11-30T02:29:14","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T03:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=350469"},"modified":"2023-11-30T06:04:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T06:04:08","slug":"smith-eyes-weekend-run-despite-first-round-frustration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=350469","title":{"rendered":"Smith eyes weekend run despite first round 'frustration'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cameron Smith<\/a> cut a frustrated figure following his first round one-under at the Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playing at The Lakes in the unique split-course format, Smith's putter seemed to let him down \u2013 he missed several good looks at birdie that could have kept him in touch with runaway leader Cameron Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"Frustrating – I think it could have been a few less," Smith said.<\/p>\n

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"I missed a couple of putts at the end of the round when I started to feel alright.<\/p>\n

"There's definitely something to build on there – I didn't feel as anxious or uncomfortable."<\/p>\n

\"Cameron<\/p>\n

Starting from the 10th, Smith made bogeys at 18, three and seven, and made two epic par saves after finding the water on 11 and 14.<\/p>\n

"I hit a couple in the water but it was nice to just commit to playing the right shot," Smith said.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Australian Open golf live and free from November 30 on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

He will turn his attention to The Australian on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

"I've played pretty well around the Aussie in the past, so it's another place where I feel really comfortable," he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

"I just need to clean up that longer stuff, and if I stop putting so much pressure on my putter I think (Friday will) be a good day."<\/p>\n

Smith admitted his poor showing at the Australian PGA last weekend was in the back of his mind, which might have contributed to his putting woes.<\/p>\n

"There was still plenty of good out of today \u2026 I'm putting so much pressure on having to make the putt rather than just hitting the putt," he said.<\/p>\n

"Those birdie opportunities didn't come too often last week, so I think it just comes from that.<\/p>\n

\"Davis<\/p>\n

"If I get on a bit of a roll, if I hit a few greens in a row, I think the putter will start to free up and some putts will go in."<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Min Woo Lee has put himself in contention again after carding a bogey-free first round five-under.<\/p>\n

Lee provided an early highlight on the 11th, when he holed out from the bunker immediately after duffing a chip shot from thick rough.<\/p>\n

With water lying in wait on the other side of the green should he hit it too hard, Lee said he was trying to be "too cute" when he made the duff, but thought he was a chance to get up-and-down from the bunker.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DamienMcCartney\/status\/1729990486373667163<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/DamienMcCartney\/status\/1729977279030366301<\/a><\/p>\n

"I thought it was a pretty good lie, and I knew I could probably make up and down from there because I can get spin out of that lie," he said.<\/p>\n

"It came out really good \u2026 I guess it was kind of suspenseful, and it ended up going in.<\/p>\n

"There was obviously danger behind it with water, but it was nice."<\/p>\n

It was one of several spectacular sand saves over the course of the round. He found the sand on 18, then again on five, but managed to save par on each occasion with barely more than a tap in.<\/p>\n

\"Min<\/p>\n

Lee said he wasn't far off sorting out his mid to short irons and wedge play that would hopefully give him more looks at birdie.<\/p>\n

"It's close \u2026 I feel like my swing's kind of in a fade bias right now, so when I try to hit a draw, it doesn't draw enough and it just stays right, which is probably something that I'll work on (Thursday) afternoon," he said.<\/p>\n

"But I'm missing it in the right spots, which is the main thing.<\/p>\n

"Golf can be tough if you miss it in the wrong spot, so I feel like I've done that really well over the last few weeks, and hopefully I can keep it going."<\/p>\n

Lee, Smith and Japanese gun Rikuya Hoshino will play their second round at the Australian on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cameron Smith cut a frustrated figure following his first round one-under at the Australian Open. Playing at The Lakes in the unique split-course format, Smith's […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":350471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=350469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":350476,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350469\/revisions\/350476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/350471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=350469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=350469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=350469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}