“I’m still third somehow” - World No. 3 Cameron Smith opens up about OWGR

Australian golfer Cameron Smith has had a good year. The LIV golfer won five events worldwide in 2022, including a third Fortinet Australian PGA Championship last week. However, the golfer has managed to remain No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Smith started off the year with wins at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Players Championship. He went on to become World No. 2 in July after his victory at St. Andrews. However, the 29-year-old Australian dropped a position in the rankings after defecting to LIV Golf and has stayed there for the rest of the year. Now, the golfer has revealed that he doesn’t mind staying at No. 3.

Speaking to the media about his stance on the OWGR at Kingston Heath, Cameron Smith said, as quoted by Golf Digest:

“I don’t know; it’s hard to say. I’m right up there. I’m still third on the [OWGR], somehow. But as time goes on, I think those rankings become more and more irrelevant, especially with not getting World Ranking points in LIV events.”

However, Smith went on to state that it was a “shame” LIV Golf doesn’t get OWGR points. The golfer added:

“It’s a bit of a shame, but it is what it is. I’ve kind of had to deal with that for the last four months. I feel like I'm playing some really, really solid golf… Yeah … it is a bit of a pain in the bum.”

It is pertinent to note that Smith’s move to LIV cost him several OWGR points. Despite winning his first major championship, the rebel player was unable to move up in the rankings due to a lack of events on his schedule. Smith’s recent win at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane landed him 10 OWGR points.

However, it seems relatively low for a player struggling to stay up in the top 5 while playing in the Saudi-backed series.

It is noteworthy that Cameron Smith had a chance to claim the World No. 1 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. However, he fell short. Now, the golfer isn’t likely to play in another OWGR event until the 2023 Masters. This is clearly frustrating for the 29-year-old as players on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour will get a chance almost every weekend to challenge him on the ranking table.

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Cameron Smith will remain No. 3 even if he wins double in Australia

Cameron Smith doesn’t stand a chance of moving up even if he leaves Australia with a second title as No. 2 Scottie Scheffler will be looking to grab all 29 points on offer at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Speaking about his first trip to Australia in three years, Smith noted that he wished to win both the events he had in hand.

He said:

“My goal coming down here was to win both of these tournaments, and it’s nice to tick one off… At Royal Sydney, Spieth beat me in a playoff. He was having a pretty stellar year [two PGA Tour wins and runner-up at the 2016 Masters]. That one hurt a little bit; that would have been my first win as a pro and would have been a pretty neat one to win."

He added:

"I’ve also played really solid in other Australian Opens but haven’t got that close since. There’d be no better week to win it than [this week] on the Melbourne [Sandbelt]."

It is pertinent to note that no golfer poses an immediate threat to Cameron Smith's No. 3 spot as of now.