INTERVIEW: Smith “Feeling Good And Looking Good” | LIV Golf Hong Kong

Cameron Smith chats with the press ahead of LIV Golf Hong Kong and talks about his history at the historic Hong Kong Golf Club and how he thinks things will play out for his Ripper GC squad.

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All right good afternoon everyone uh we’re joined by two captains today we’ve got Andy Quark captain of the Hong Kong golf club and cam Smith captain of Ripper GC welcome guys Andy I’ll start with you um what does it mean to be hosting the first live golf Hong Kong

This week at the Hong Kong Golf Club especially with it being the club’s 135th anniversary year hi um yeah I think it means a lot to the club uh as you said this is a to kickstart uh Year yearlong celebration um this is great to have LIF uh all the

Lift players here to celebrate our 135th year with us um and um I think also it also helped reinforced uh all the the over Century long um effort that the club has you know poured into the golf development in the region um so it’s also a a very um you know Assurance for

The club that um you know I heard a lot of good comments from the players um so far today that the course is playing well um so hopefully uh we can put together a uh a very you know challenging yet enjoyable um course for the players this week and and also for

Hong Kong I think uh this is great to have live golf coming over uh to the region um because it is a uh one of the mega events that um Hong Kong will will be hosting and uh I think it’s also showcased that Hong Kong is ready uh and

It is the uh the the city to to host um mega events for the region and just like on on the back of that Hong Kong Golf Club has a really long history of Hosting larg scale golf tournaments and the past winners of the Hong Kong open

Is really who’s who of golf where do you think live golf ranks in this context and what’s your expectation of live golf bringing to Hong Kong well I think uh um when was the last time we have over 50 um Champion golfers uh you know together in in in Hong Kong

And quite a few of them are major winners as well I think right cam uh so I think uh it is really great um you know to uh to be hosting live in Hong Kong um to add you know to our already quite wide spectrum of U Mega events uh

Golfing events that the club has been hosting um and and because of the unique format that uh Liv brings uh to Hong Kong um it’s not just golf but golf but louder I mean this is a completely new concept um for our local audience um and

So I think it will be a a very interesting um uh week go ahead uh to to be able to welcome you know our usual golf fans from the region as well as some um new or even non- golfers who come in uh just to experience the the

LIF golf uh event or the entertainment that uh the event will bring uh for the for the audience uh and also I think um it’s also great that you know uh the event besides the you know all the all the tourists uh or The Spectators flying

In from what I heard I think 29 countries and territories uh to to arriving you know or they have arrived in Hong Kong uh for this event uh this event will also be broadcast to over 110 countries and territories around the world so this is also a great opportunity um for Hong

Kong and for the club uh to to be displayed uh you know uh what we have in such a great City to be displayed to you know a global audience so uh we’re all very excited about that awesome uh cam you know Hong Kong Golf Club well you

Previously came close to winning the Hong Kong open last year can you just talk us through that week and where it puts some of your thoughts going into this week at live golf Hong Kong yeah I think um I feel really comfortable around the golf course um I I played

Here probably seven or eight years ago as well when I was a young professional and and had a quite quite a good week that week as well so um lots of good memories um I love how this golf course plays it’s a it is really a smart

Person’s golf course and um it’s it’s a golf course although it presents a lot of opportunities you have to be really patient around here particularly if off the Fairway so um yeah can bite in the bum pretty quick around here and um just need to be smart and what can fans

Expect uh who are coming to see the first live golf Hong Kong this week um oh I think um the atmosphere is great out here it was great here in in October um I expect the the atmosphere in the crowd to proba probably be a little bit rowdier than it was then um

You know given uh what Liv provides um but for the golf fan as well uh lots of birdies um and and just lots of good shots I mean uh this is probably uh you know probably is the best field in golf um and uh yeah I can’t wait to Showcase

That to Hong Kong awesome uh we’ll pass on to Mike and then open up to any questions from the media if you just raise your hands we also have Frank here to translate for anyone who needs it I just had a couple questions for cam this

Is course remind you of any courses in Australia that you uh that you’ve played uh especially maybe from uh from the length or the Tre line Fairways that type of thing yeah it’s definitely got a an Australian look to it I would say um I I think

Um as far as it plays it probably plays a little bit softer than than Australia but there’s a lot of shots um where you have to shape it both ways uh and yeah like I said before you have to be smart around here it reminds me a lot of Home

In that aspect but probably just a touch softer and then I I did want to ask you it might be too early to start citing stats for this season but the the Rippers are 12th and driving distance given the given the length of this course do you feel like it’s kind of a

Great equalizer for all the teams that there’s just not a focus on just bombing it from the tea yeah absolutely I I think I I would expect that the leader board um particularly at the top end of the leader board is going to be a lot different this week uh given what the

The course provides um but at the same time we’ve got some guys that are playing Pretty outstanding golf at the moment and they’re going to be tough to beat so um yeah it’ll be interesting week um you know hopefully for our team it’s the week that really kicks off the

Rest of the season um I know I know all the boys are probably pretty disappointed in how they’ve played the first three events so um you know feeling good and looking good this week early in the week but um we still got to go out there tomorrow and and actually

Do it so uh we’ll see what happens all right thanks go ahead Joy cam if I can ask you you’ve been really U should I say frustrated with your driver the last couple of weeks does this golf course then give you a lot of because I I don’t

Know how many holes you will be using the driver on but if it is in the bag for most of the time do you think you have a great chance out here yes um that’s the short answer um yeah it’s it’s definitely a club um for me that’s been very frustrating like you

Said uh probably not only the start of the season but probably the last few years um we’re working on stuff in the swing to to try and straighten it out and it’s definitely uh a kind of a step in the in the right direction it’s just

Been really hard for me to trust um on the golf course so um you know know given that it only probably comes out five or six times around here hopefully it’s it’s one of those weeks where it’s a confidence Builder um with the longer stuff and um yeah just hitting off more

Fairways in general I think will will help me and Andy if I can ask you we all know how big taii is over here did you a and the fondness that you guys have for him did you really try hard with live golf to get him one of the wild

Cards well I well obviously I think local fans would love to see taii playing this week but I think he went through the qualifying and uh I think he’s also per playing well on the Asian tour so uh maybe you know he in the future he’ll get a chance to play with

You know the big guys on live but um oh we we all we hope that you know that he you know can Excel uh in his own way uh and you know play well for Hong Kong because and because as you all know Tachi is is really inspiring a lot of

Our younger generation of golfers in Hong Kong so uh with him you know being on the international stage is will also you know be great for our future you know uh future Tai cheese uh you know in the making so um yeah so really hope that you know he he plays

Well in in in the months to come on Danny hi uh Danny hick from AFP uh cam you know you played here late in the year where the Hong Kong open is on and now this is kind of a different season different time have you noticed differences in the course because we’ve

Obviously had a winter in between since you were last here yeah I think um leading up to the golf tournament last year and I mean prob Andy would probably know better than me but they did have a fair bit of rain and um the golf course especially the fairways were quite soft

And they were uh generally um because the ball was stopping pretty quick uh generally a little bit easier to hit so um the biggest thing for me has been that run out in the fairways and um you know probably goes more into the shot shape of hand you know working it

Working it into a slope or something to try and keep it on the Fairway so um yeah that’s that’s probably the biggest thing I think the greens are probably a touch faster but um yeah other than that just um controlling the ball off the te will be pretty key can I

Just ask Andy how how’s that been for you and your teams here like the green Keepers and so on because you’re not normally setting up for tournament golf at this time of year yeah I think as Cam said I think we had a lot of you know in

The later half of the year last year and we just had Hong Kong open in November uh and right after that you know uh we have to open up the course for our members to and and visitors and guests to play and um you know within a short

Period of time to bring the course back to tourn tournament ready uh conditions for you know for the lift golf is really challenging so I really appreciate all the hard work that our team our courses team has done uh hats off to them and then hope that you know this time of the

This course at this time of the year will be something a little bit different um you know for for for our players it would definitely be different for us because um we never used to have music around the course I played today at the pro in the program and I you know it

Took me a while to get used to that but um I think it quite it is quite helpful it helps my rhythm so uh I guess I’m looking forward to a week of entertainment and good go off I guess can I just say on the music because I’ve

Played in the pram as well and I found that it after a while you just don’t notice it is that has that been the same for you guys cam you know you just used to it now and yeah I think um I think if you do notice it you’re probably not in

The right head space to be honest um you know you should be uh really focused on on what you’re doing I think the music out there today is probably not how loud it’s going to be tomorrow uh usually they they turn it down for us on Friday

But uh there’ll still be a little bit there on can yes um I think now we need switch the channel to K and ask questions to Andy in Kon I guess I’ll answer in canones if you don’t mind setup for hello cam uh you have just said previous

Days ago that need to get rid of the some rubbish and we’ll be back to the top can you tell us some what kind of the rubish are that and what you have to solve um it’s that’s a good question um it’s it’s basically just the driver um

For me um just need to hit more Fairways um you know like I said before just trying to get comfortable with um with some swing changes um on the golf course and um you know we’ve had we’ve had a lot of wind uh that kind of creeps into

The back of your mind the first couple of weeks so um yeah just basically not trusting it out in the golf course um I get to the range and and hit the ball really good and um yeah just can’t quite get it to the golf course yet so

Hopefully this is a week where it changes um last year uh on the H number 18 that at some point I thought you may you may beit uh B Campo and win the Hong open um so now once again you you go to the 18 home what will you do will you do

What you did last year um yeah I think given the situation you I I was trying to go down there and make birdie um I don’t think I hit three-wood off there any other day I was really trying to push it down there and and give me a really good shot at birdie

So um didn’t quite work out Benny uh made a 20 footer on me um which hurt a little bit but um yeah no I wouldn’t change anything any more questions have one yes some questions from the standard for Andy so you just mentioned that about 29 uh audience from 29 countries

Will come to Hong Kong do you have a specific number and I want ask uh like how many tickets have been sold so far and also what measures will be the club take to maybe face the possible Crow to smooth the crowd and give a better experience experience to our audience thank

You uh thank you I we don’t actually have the breakdown on the 29 countries and territories um that the spectators will be flying into Hong Kong to for this event but um I’m sure it will be you know all across the world um and you know with the club as well as our

Organizers LIF go has you know put together tremendous effort in um bringing what we call a brand new Spectators experience for for our for our visitors uh this week uh including um we never done before like entertainment such as we’re bringing in a worldclass DJ for concert on Saturday

And as well as um the birdie Shack on the on the 10th if um you you were out there which I think we have never built any structure there before um and um hopefully uh we’ll make it a I don’t know whether they will make it a

Driveable par for on one one of the days uh if not but someone will still try to go for the green I think some of the players are you know reachable um so maybe it will be a very fun hold to watch which as I said the course and the

Structural that the structures that we have around the course has never been as extensive as before uh another Hong Kong open or or other Championship so it will be a great experience for all those people who are coming in uh as well as watching it on TV it’s a Chinese questions from crk

And uh for for okay it’s a question for Andy speaking of bringing um Hong Kong to the world stage well Hong Kong Golf Club has made all the efforts like uh within the 12 months we have the world city championship and then the ram Coast Team

Series and the Hong Kong open and now we have the lift and then of course at the end of the year we going celebrating 135th anniversary together with the Hong Kong open do you consider that this is in a really big achievement and um what kind of efforts that the team uh like

The Hong Kong golf club team has put into all this effort do you consider this is a world record I I don’t know about world record but I think uh our team uh as well as uh Hong Kong government’s support has been tremendous in making uh all the events

That you mentioned possible and and also I think it’s also an reassurance for us that uh golf as a sport uh can really attract Spectators and eyeballs from around the world uh so this is you know great for Hong Kong as the to be we want

To be the mega event capital of of the region and I think through golf uh we can be one of the drivers for for to help Hong Kong government to achieve this goal so uh we’re really through that you know we’re in this pos position

To uh to to work hand inand with various tools as well as uh with the Hong Kong government great note to end on cam Andy thank you so much for your time thank you thank you so much thank you