June 12, 2024
Cameron Smith was a massive letdown for fantasy managers in his last Major appearance at the PGA Championship. The 30-year-old Aussie and LIV defector lost over four strokes ball-striking and over two strokes putting en route to an ugly T63 performance. That performance is likely to lead to a major decrease in his DFS ownership, and fantasy managers should jump on Smith as a potentially huge leverage play. Pinehurst will be one of the most difficult short game tests golfers will see in any given year, and Smith is arguable the world's best in that category. He also appears to raise his baseline in Majors, as he's gained an average of seven strokes in the short game over his last seven Major appearances. Over his Major career, Smith has finished inside of the top-10 25% of the time, including a victory at the Open Championship in 2022 and most recently with a T6 showing at this year's Masters. It's perplexing to see someone with that pedigree priced under $9,000 on DraftKings, and fantasy managers should look to capitalize on Smith's upside and win equity at this year's US Open.
--Ryan HickeySource: PGA Tour
April 8, 2024
Coming off a withdrawal at LIV Golf Miami due to food poisoning, Cameron Smith returns to an event where he has done everything but secure a green jacket in seven career starts. The Australian has finished no worse than a T55, which was in his first attempt. Like other LIV players, not much is known about the state of his game from a statistical perspective other than he leads the breakaway league in putting average (1.49) and has a total strokes-gained average of only 0.29 through the league's first five events. The undeniable fluctuation of ball-striking certainly simmers some of the expectations, and at $9,900 on FanDuel, it's possible he doesn't live up to them this week.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: Data Golf
July 19, 2023
Cameron Smith will participate in The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool this week after winning the LIV London tournament two weeks ago. He is returning to defend his title in 2022 after ranking 33rd in strokes gained off-the-tee and 24th in strokes gained on approach last year. Smith has performed impressively in this year's majors, finishing fourth at the U.S. Open, tied for ninth at the PGA Championship, and T34 at The Masters. He has achieved five top-10 finishes in his last six LIV tournaments, making him a strong candidate for fantasy lineups.
--Ian Christenson - RotoBallerSource: Data Golf
April 4, 2023
Cameron Smith starts his 2023 season at The Masters. The last time he played on this side of the hemisphere was last August at The Tour Championship. Smith finished 20th as the Australian could not make enough birdies when the conditions were better. That may be a problem this week at Augusta. Can Smith start off hot on Thursday when the greens are expected to be soft yet not waterlogged? The LIV golfer won a lot last year including The Open, three Australian titles, and a LIV Chicago Invitational. However, his metrics were concerning especially with driving and accuracy (both outside the top 100). He could be overvalued this week.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: PGATour.com
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