PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 17, 2026

Cam Smith

Aronimink Golf Club

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Cam Smith is with us now at the 108th PGA Championship. Cam, what can you tell us about your final round 68.

CAM SMITH: It was really solid. I mean, I got off to the start that I wanted to get off to. Hit a few kind of, I guess, wayward drives there on the back nine, but still had a few looks at birdie and just wasn't able to capitalize on the back nine.

Yeah, a little bit frustrating with the putter today, but that's golf.

Q. Impressive performance after a few majors where you missed the cut. What changed for you, and how good does it feel to play like this?

CAM SMITH: Yeah. I mean, it feels great to play nice. You don't work hard to play crap, and it's frustrating, and the last couple of years have been frustrating. I feel like I've been putting in the work and not really getting anything out of it.

I made a swing coach switch a couple weeks ago now to Claude, and we've just managed to clean up a few things that were perhaps a little bit off, and I feel like I've got a lot more confidence in my swing.

Even out there today, under the pressure I felt like I was able to trust it already. So lots of positive signs.

Q. Cam, I know you said it's been frustrating the last year and a half, not being where you want to be, but just can you kind of dive a little deeper -- because I know you're competitive around here and I'm sure you hear people talk about the move to LIV and why your game fell off. Just mentally how frustrating has it been to work so hard and not really get what you want on this stage?

CAM SMITH: Yeah. I mean, I feel like I've thrived in major championships my whole career. I feel like I've been able to play my best golf in major championships, and that kind of fell off. And like I mentioned before, I don't think it was from a lack of hard work. I just think you lose a little bit of confidence in your swing and maybe in your brain, and it can all happen so quickly.

That's why I needed a fresh voice in the head and kind of almost a restart and like I said, it's felt good so far.

Q. To go to the 18th green, obviously you're going to come up probably one shot, maybe two, short. What's the balance in your mind between being really proud and happy with how you played and being a little frustrated that you left maybe a shot or two out there?

CAM SMITH: Yeah. I mean, I wanted to hole that putt. I feel like there was a lot of good putts I hit on the back nine. The one on the 18th was probably the worst putt I hit all day, which was frustrating.

But I had lots of good looks. I'm proud of how I hung in there today, and I'm proud of how I showed up this week, with a new thought and a new swing.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the next few months.

Q. Was your heart pounding? Were your legs jelly? How does the Sunday pressure manifest itself in your body? You haven't been there in a little while.

CAM SMITH: Yeah. I mean, thanks for bringing that up. I haven't been there in a little while. You're right.

It was good. I love that stuff. That's why we compete. We compete to win, and it was nice to get the heart rate up and, you know, feel your hands and your legs get a little bit jelly. It was cool.

And I'm happy with how I played with all that going on as well. So like I said, lots of positive stuff.

Q. What do you do to calm your body, calm your nerves? For a guy like Aaron Rai who's never been there in this situation. What is the physical challenge to play your best golf when you're feeling that way?

CAM SMITH: I think the challenge for me today was to trust the swing, and I was able to do that. I feel like I've been good mentally through the struggle, and I was able to kind of lean on that a little bit. It was a little bit of different pressure.

But I feel like having a conversation with Sammy, my caddie, we kept up the chat all day, and I like to take a sip of water and just kind of feel some stuff that's really internal and not really worrying about the golf. So I was able to do a good job of that today.

Q. Cam, you talked about the start, but can you take us through like the stretch from 10 to 13 where you kind of had a case of the rights off the tee, but yet you were able to scratch out a bunch of pars?

CAM SMITH: Yeah. It's just a couple of poor drives really. I think 10 is a difficult tee shot. It's probably one of the hardest on the golf course. I've struggled with that all week, just committing to that. Yeah, but I mean was able to hang in there and actually have a couple of birdie looks through that stretch, which was kind of nice.

Like I said, I feel like I left myself -- I felt like I played good enough golf to really give this thing a nudge. I just wasn't able to capitalize on the putts

Q. And I'm curious, were you more cognizant of the score behind you that was obviously a stroke ahead or were you more cognizant of what JT had done posting 5-under that's been lasting for a long time now?

CAM SMITH: Yeah. You know, at the start of the day I just really wanted to get to 6-under. I was happy with where 6-under was going to get me. I feel like I would have had to go out there and play some really good golf. You know, and I was close.

The course really kind of firmed up that last 90 minutes for us. It will be interesting watching the next couple hours. But, yeah, I feel like I did enough good to get there. I just, yeah, missed a few putts.

Q. Cam, when the dust kind of settles on this weekend and you can have some time to look back, what's going to be the one thing that you take away from putting yourself back in this position?

CAM SMITH: I mean, just belief that I'm doing the right thing. That's really it. It was a hard call to make to my coach. I had been seeing Grant since I was 9 years old. So I'd been with him for 23 years, and probably one of the most difficult phone calls I've ever had to make.

And, yeah, it's still kind of lingering, but I feel like I've made the right call, and I can see it in my golf and just my strike of the ball and seeing some different shots. It's been nice.