“Unacceptable” - Cameron Smith gets emotional after a shocking missed cut at the 2023 Australian PGA Championship

Cameron Smith missed the cut at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship after playing two rounds. The defending champion struggled with his game and after carding a second round of 78, he failed to make the cut in his home city.

Smith got emotional after missing the cut and said it was 'unacceptable.' He had an incredible season playing on the LIV Golf in 2023, but his performance at the Australian PGA Championship was disappointing.

Speaking about his performance, Smith said (via BBC.com):

"Australia has been so good to me, there's no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable. I've performed under pressure before and it's not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually. I know what I'm doing, it's just going out there and committing to something is another thing."

Cameron Smith notably won the tournament last year, registering a three-stroke victory over Ryu Hisatsune and Jason Scrivener. In fact, he has won the Australian PGA Championship thrice in his career and was looking forward to defending the title in 2023, but failed to make the cut.

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Cameron Smith's performance at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship

The 2022 Open Championship winner played two rounds of the above 70 at the Australian PGA Championship.

Cameron Smith started his game with a bogey on the seventh hole and made another bogey on the eighth hole in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, November 23. He carded three bogeys on the front nine and a birdie on the 12th to settle for a score of 2-over par 73.

In the second round of the tournament, Smith started with a bogey on the fourth hole before adding another on the sixth. He made a birdie on the seventh and then a bogey on the ninth.

On the back nine of the second round, Smith carded a double bogey on the tenth and made three more bogeys to score seven over-par 78. He could only make two birdies after playing 36 holes of the tournament.

The cut for the tournament was even par. Cameron Smith finished with a score of nine over par, missing the cut by nine strokes.

Following the two rounds of the tournament, Min Woo Lee topped the leaderboard. He played two rounds of 64-66 to finish with a score of under 12. Adam Scott finished in second place followed by John Lyras.

Scott played a bogey-free round on Friday. Speaking about his performance, the Australian golfer said (via BBC):

"It's always nice to have a bogey-free round, I probably haven't had many of them this year. I feel like my swing from the tee to the green is feeling better than it has for a while and that's a nice thing for me."

The 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship is underway at Royal Queensland Golf Course and will have its final on Sunday, November 26.