Cameron Smith returns claret jug ahead of the British Open and reflects on his long year

HOYLAKE, England — The chill Aussie vibe of Cameron Smith gave way to more emotion than he expected Monday while taking part in one of many royal and ancient traditions at the British Open.

As the defending champion, he had to return the claret jug.

“I was actually holding back some tears. A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me,” Smith said. “It wasn’t hard to hand it back. I wasn’t like, ‘Not letting it go.’ But it was a moment that I guess you don’t think about, and then all of a sudden it’s there. And you want it back.”

Getting the jug back might be as difficult as getting back his parking spot at the TPC Sawgrass.

Smith lost that privilege that goes to The Players Championship winner when he chose to leave the PGA Tour for Saudi-funded LIV Golf, maybe not the biggest name to defect but the only reigning major champion at the time.

It’s all part of a long year that Smith feels went by so quickly.

His introduction of “champion golfer of the year” was still ringing in his head when he was asked about whether he was going to join LIV, his most uncomfortable moment.

And then lawsuits were filed. Smith joined LIV. He lost his parking spot and practice privileges at the home of the PGA Tour. He won the second event he played. He went home to Australia for the offseason. He played in three majors.

And now he arrives at Royal Liverpool with golf in an even more chaotic state than it was a year ago, with a framework agreement that has no details and a Senate hearing that revealed juicy documents but no real direction on how the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will coexist.

“I think golf is in a great spot,” Smith said. “There’s obviously a lot of things that are up in the air that no one really knows at the moment. I don’t even think the guys that are trying to sort it out really know what this outcome is going to be like. Yeah, a lot of uncertainty but I’m optimistic that LIV will be around in the future.”

For now what matters is winning back gold’s oldest trophy, a feat no one has managed since Padraig Harrington won in 2007 at Carnoustie and 2008 at Royal Birkdale.

Monday brought a full day of practice on a links course that has been around for 154 years and is situated on the other side of the River Mersey from Liverpool.

The day began with passing showers and ended with warm sunshine, perfect weather for a brand of golf that is fickle even on normal days.

Rory McIlroy arrived fresh off winning the Scottish Open, a shot of confidence for him as he tries to end his nine-year drought in the majors on a course where he went wire-to-wire to win the claret jug in 2014.

McIlroy promptly told the R&A he would not be holding a pre-tournament news conference, similar to what he did at the U.S. Open last month in Los Angeles.

Some of that presumably is to avoid the endless questions and speculation on the PGA Tour deal with the Saudis.