Fortunate twist for Smith on ‘frustrating’ day

By Emily Patterson and Damien McCartney

Having earlier thought he had missed the cut, Cameron Smith has progressed into the weekend rounds at the Australian Open.

A week after his win at the Australian PGA, Smith was left anxiously waiting, but eventually pulled through right on the cutline with a two-over 73 on Friday.

After carding a one-over 71 at Victoria Golf Club on Thursday, Smith appeared on the wrong side of the cutline.

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Following his round, Smith said he “just couldn’t get anything going”.

“I’ve felt really uncomfortable the past couple of days which is really odd,” he said.

“I hit plenty of good putts that just skirted the edges, and that’s what I ended up with.”

The Australian Open is live on Nine and 9Now from Thursday-Sunday.

Starting on the 10th at Kingston Heath, Smith started his round with a bogey and two pars. He birdied the par-four 13th but gave the shot straight back on 14.

He also made bogey on 16, before starting his front nine with back-to-back birdies. He would make two more bogeys on the fourth and eighth, before finishing with a birdie on the ninth. 

With his wedge game normally his strong point, Smith lamented missing several greens in a “frustrating” round.

“I hit a couple of good shots into three (but) from there it was just really not that great. I had another wedge into four and missed the green,” he said.

Cameron Smith struggles at Australian Open

“Just really poor. Not really good stuff out there, and quite frustrating because scoring conditions are obviously pretty good.”

David Micheluzzi and Adam Scott share the lead with an eight-under 134.

Scott shot a bogey-free seven-under 63 to equal the Victorian Golf Club’s course record also carded by local pro David Micheluzzi on Thursday.

After a difficult opening round for the 2013 Masters champion, Scott willed himself into form, rolling in a left-to-right eagle from off the fringe of the 18th green.

Scott and Micheluzzi will go head to head in the final group on Saturday after Micheluzzi carded a one-under-par 71 to hold a share of the opening-round lead.

Hannah Green is topping the women’s championship with an 11-under 134.

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