After major season failure, LIV star motivated to find his old self

He’d rather be fishing, wouldn’t he?

Cameron Smith has often made it seem that way.

Never mind his big wins at TPC Sawgrass and the Old Course at St. Andrews . Forget the fact that he was once the No. 2-ranked player in the world. The Aussie star has long sounded like a man who prefers hooking bass to bagging birdies.

That was partly why he left for LIV in 2022, shortly after winning both the Players C hampionship and the Claret Jug that year. He said he was tired of relentless travel. He wanted a looser schedule, more time to lounge around Down Under, more chances to cast his line into the currents.

Golf? Smith liked it well enough. But he spoke of it as something he could largely take or leave.

At last week’s LIV Golf UK, though, the laidback 31-year-old with the party-in-back