2021 BMW Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Caves Valley

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Aug 23, 2021; Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; Cameron Smith studies his putt on the 3rd hole during the final round of The Northern Trust golf tournament at the Liberty National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports /

Cameron Smith ought to remember the form that helped him shoot 20-under last week at The Northern Trust. Not the out-of-bounds drive in a playoff that all but handed the trophy to Tony Finau.

Despite the disappointment, Smith still did enough to ensure his spot at East Lake. The Aussie recorded rounds of 69-68-60-67, setting the course record in round three. Perhaps if the final round wasn’t washed out until Monday, he could have continued the momentum even more than he did with his 4-under tally.

Smith was never able to catch playing companion Jon Rahm until late. After Rahm crumbled, Smith surged with four birdies in his final six holes to join a playoff with Tony Finau.

Smith is known for his shot-making, short game and putting. It was too little, too late to put these skills to the test in the playoff after going OB on his first attempt then missing the fairway with his second tee shot.

"“Just a terrible swing, mate,” Smith was quoted by ASAP Sports. “Just a mis-hit, and in these conditions, you can’t mis-hit the ball. Got a little bottom-y and a little bit heal-y and just blew up in the wind and went a long ways right. “You know, my driver has cost me a few tournaments this year. That makes me more determined to try and figure it out before the end of the year.”"

The 28-year-old made just two bogeys over 72 holes. Smith was second in the field in strokes gained approach (8.383 total) and third in scrambling (78.95%).

The mulleted man is ninth on the PGA Tour in SG putting (.644).

Smith is up to a career-high 23rd in the Official World Golf Rankings.

He won this year with Marc Leishman at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Smith has gotten himself in the mix several times, including T-2nd at the 2020 Masters and six top-10s in 2021.

Smith is on a streak of three straight top-10s. These were all big events: the Olympics (T-10th), WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational (T-5th) and The Northern Trust (2nd).

There are plenty of Americans and Europeans in the field keeping one eye on the Ryder Cup. That can add a layer of pressure, so I sneakily like international players to contend more than usual this week.

It only helps that Caves Valley is hosting the BMW Championship for the first time where no one could have an advantage over Cam on the greens.

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