Cameron Smith feels he's starting to reap the rewards of his new partnership with renowned swing coach Claude Harmon III as he attempts to win a second British Open.
Smith linked with the American in May after splitting with long-time coach Grant Field and, ahead of this week's Open at Royal Birkdale, is upbeat about adding to his 2022 crown.
The 32-year-old missed the cut at his most recent event, the US Open at Shinnecock in June, but put his early exit at the third major of the year down to a "shitty start".
"I actually played half decent - we had that foggy, windy morning and just got off to a shitty start, and you can't be on the back foot of the US Open, and I was from about the sixth hole, but the game still felt good there," Smith said.
"I feel like the stuff with Claude is slowly starting to grain in and feel a little bit more natural, like I don't have to think about it so much and can just get back to kind of hitting shots, which is what you need to do at a British Open.
"You need to be creative. You need to hit shots low and high, so it's come at a good time."
Smith switched up his usual approach to a tournament and arrived at the Merseyside course almost a week ago to fine-tune his preparation.
"I'm usually not one to treat a major differently, but given I hadn't played for a few weeks I thought it was probably necessary to come over early and play some links golf and get ready," the former world No.2 said.
A loud and proud supporter of the Australian Open, Smith was asked what organisers could do to lure world No.1 Scottie Scheffler to play at Kingston Heath in December.
The Queenslander had a very Aussie response, saying "meat pies and flat whites" should do the trick.
"Meat pies and flat white. He's a coffee snob, Scottie, so I think we really need to sell him on the flat whites," Smith said.
He said the event should look to attract golfers beyond second-ranked Rory McIlroy, who proved a massive hit with crowds in 2025, and Scheffler, who has flagged his interest.
"You look at what the Aussie Open was 20 or 30 years ago and they've got a long way to go to get back to that, but I feel like we're trending in the right direction, particularly after last year,'' Smith said.
"It was awesome to see the crowd down there in Melbourne and Rory come down and a few other blokes, but yeah, I feel like we need a few more."
