LIV GOLF ANDALUCíA

June 6, 2026

Cam Smith

Real Club Valderrama

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome captain of Ripper GC, Cam Smith. Cam, well-played today, a round of 2-under par 69. You're currently tied fourth at 5-under par. Can you take us through your round and your thoughts on the week so far?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, the week has been good. It's been solid. There's been glimpses of brilliance and glimpses of some other stuff, as well.

Today started off really nice. Probably could have been a few better -- maybe not a few better, maybe one or two better through kind of six or seven holes. Hit a few kind of wayward drives through the middle.

Yeah, hung in there and made a birdie on 17, so pretty solid.

Q. You're chasing your first individual title since Bedminster 2023. You're in obviously good position going into tomorrow. What's the mindset and the game plan going into Sunday here at Valderrama?

CAM SMITH: I mean, much more of the same really. Don't really need to do anything different. I feel like it's a golf course you can play -- if you play it overly aggressive, it can get away from you really quickly. I don't think the game plan has to change. Just more quality shots, and hopefully a few of those longer putts go in.

Q. I hit several drives that went left today. When you're kind of fighting that and you're still able to grind out the kind of round, the kind of score that you did, that seems like it's a pretty good accomplishment when not everything is going straight.

CAM SMITH: Yeah. I mean, I've battled through that for a long time now. I've learnt how to deal with that. I've played a lot of shots from the trees in recent years.

Like I said before, there's glimpses of brilliance. I just need to kind of make that a little bit more consistent, and then the really good stuff will come.

Yeah, like you mentioned, made a couple really good pars out there to kind of keep the momentum going and was able to make one or two on the back nine.

Q. You had never seen Valderrama until your first year here; is that correct?

CAM SMITH: Yeah.

Q. Did you feel like it was the kind of course that you were very -- you were going to do well on, because your results have been pretty good in the last three years.

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I like the golf course. I feel like I like golf courses that frustrate other people. I feel like I've got a leg up on that.

Coming into this week, everyone knows what they're up against. You know you're going to get some bad luck. You know you're going to get some bad bounces, have some bad lies under the trees.

But it's all part of playing here. I feel like I deal with it better than most people do.

Q. Two years ago Sergio was seven back when he won. Do you feel like there's really a lot of people in the hunt tomorrow because anything can happen, don't know what the weather is going to be like, that kind of thing, wind?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I think it's going to be really windy tomorrow. It's going to be a grinder's type of day out there tomorrow.

I think I'm probably three or four back now. I feel like I'm in a position where I can give it a good shot tomorrow. I just need to kind of hang in there, given the conditions.

Q. How do you rank Valderrama in terms of difficulty from other golf courses in the LIV season?

CAM SMITH: I mean, it's very difficult. It's just tricky. It's not long. You just need to hit the fairway. You need to be in the right spot on the fairway.

Then the greens are brutal, as well. The greens this year, I think, haven't been as fast as what they've been in previous years. I think they're a little bit probably worried with the wind the first couple of days, so the greens haven't been as difficult.

But it's one of the toughest tests that we play all year-round, if not the toughest.