Cam Smith pulls off absurd shot in second round of Masters

BOSTON -- Cam Smith -- like most members of LIV -- hasn't been seen by too many golf fans since his move to the alternate league last year. Yet with the Masters serving as the first major tournament of the 2023 calendar year, Smith is back in the spotlight.

The Aussie's opening round 70 was solid if unspectacular, and a couple of bogeys on his first four holes on Friday had the 2022 Open Championship winner at even par for the tournament. Smith then birdied the fifth and bogeyed the seventh to remain at even, but he then turned in what figures to stand as one the most ridiculously impressive shots of the whole tournament.

After hitting his tee shot 292 yards into a fairway bunker on the 570-yard par 5, Smith pulled a metal out of his bag, set up with the ball well below his feet, and put every ounce of his frame into his second shot. The result was ... perfect.

See for yourself:

That was not normal. Not at all. Perhaps the roll around the side of the green and back toward the pin was the result of good fortune, but good things come to those who smash 250-yard bombs out of fairway bunkers.

Smith capitalized, too, sinking his 17-foot putt for his first eagle of the weekend, bringing him to 2-under.

Unfortunately for Smith, he was unable to carry that momentum forward, as play was suspended due to weather while he played the ninth hole. Smith was looking at a 29-foot birdie putt, following a 348-yard drive and a solid uphill approach shot into a driving wind. 

Smith was far from the only LIV golfer in the tournament, with Brooks Koepka leading the entire field through the end of his second round at 12-under. Phil Mickelson carded a 3-under 69 on Friday to get his score to 4-under entering the weekend. Dustin Johnson sat at 1-under through his second round, Patrick Reed was 4-under when play was suspended, and Joaquin Niemann was also at 4-under through his first two rounds. On the less-successful side of the ledger, Bryson DeChambeau finished Friday at 4-over and missed the cut, while Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson were both at 7-over on the back nine when play was suspended.