NO STEADY CAM: SMITH’S DERRING DO COULD BE MASTERS ACE IN THE HOLE
0No steady Cam: Smith’s derring do could be Masters ace in the hole
April 8. 2022 — 3.30pm Save Log in. register or subscribe to save articles for later. Share Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size Can we hear it for Cameron Smith? No. not him. the other Cameron Smith. The one with the mullet and the smile. The Queenslander who has been tearing up golf courses around the world in recent times and who. as we speak. is tearing up the Augusta Masters. After the first day he was tearing it up in a good way. Maybe after the second day it will have been that he was tearing it up in a bad way. In terms of admiration for him. it doesn’t really matter. Smith seems to play in always the same way: he goes for it. He drives hard and fast. attempts impossible shots. never seems to hesitate when confronted with outrageous odds. If he was a PT Boat captain. he would be the one giving the orders to the engine room: RRRRRAMMING speed. The end result is that he is compelling to watch. Not for him. working the angles. playing the percentages. Not for him. hitting the gym so he can develop the muscle mass to hit the ball 50 metres further than anyone else. Not for him. throwing his clubs down and snarling when things don’t work. He comes across as a fabulous Australian bloke. who plays the game the way it is meant to be played. and it just so happens that approach has taken him to the very top of the world of golf. Bravo. young man. and good luck over the next couple of days. As ever. if in doubt. GO FOR IT. We are watching. and very proud. Don’t go breaking his heart Tiger Woods nails a 71 on his first round at the Masters and is just behind the leaders? As I noted in my Thursday column. the fact that he is out on the course is extraordinary enough. let alone the fact he could be in contention! Which. of course. brings me to me. I don’t want to go into my friendship with him. again. but you have forced my hand. See. about 25 years when Bill Clinton came to town and settled into the same Hotel Inter Continental where Woods was the guest of honour at a golf dinner being held on the first floor. there was a rumour doing the rounds that Clinton and Woods would meet for a drink later that evening. So. of course. as I saw Tiger coming back from the loo. I crash tacked him to ask if it was true. Tiger Woods ... he IS back.Credit:John Shakespeare He replied. and I quote. “No”. before moving on. Look. it might not sound like much to you. but it was everything to me. It wasn’t gruff. not narky. but nice. Warm. friendly. I really rather fancy that me and Tiger or. as I call him. “Tigger” quite hit if off in that special moment. No. not in a manner where you could claim a deep friendship. but in the manner that some friendships run deeper than that sort of surface stuff. He said “No” to me. It’s a moment I will always treasure. Anyhoo. when I briefly mentioned the encounter on Twitter this week. it prompted my friend. Craig Norenbergs – the former sports capo at both ABC and SBS – to briefly reminisce about his legendary former colleague and mate. the late. great Les Murray. The soccer commentator’s dream interview was Elton John. You know it makes sense. After all. as Craig pointed out: “Les loved music. and Elton loves football.” And there he is. Les! You both happen to be at Sydney Airport at the same time. Don’t miss your chance! So Les walks up to him. and very politely asks the rock icon for an interview. “The Rocket Man.” Norenbergs recounts. “said two words: ‘F— off’. And walked away.” Oh. Elton. The bitch is back! (And did I tell you? Tiger didn’t tell me to “F— off!“. so I am counting that as a win. I think he really liked me.) Australia’s soccer blues Ummm ... what’s happening. Australian soccer? Socceroos fans are pretty glum these days.Credit:Fairfax Why are we struggling so? True. it’s not quite as bad as Australian rugby. but still pretty bad. See. in the extremely unlikely case that we actually make it to the World Cup. that...
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