Defending champion Cameron Smith was close to tears after what he called an "unacceptable" performance as he missed the cut at the Australian PGA Championship by nine shots.
The 2022 Open champion carded six bogeys and a double bogey in his second round of 78 that saw him finish on nine over, with the cut made at level par.
Only six players finished with a worse score after two rounds, and with the event being played in his home of Brisbane Smith took it pretty badly.
"Australia has been so good to me, there's no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable," said Smith in an emotional post-round interview.
"Yeah, no words. S***. I've performed under pressure before and it's not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually," added Smith, who also won the Australian PGA in 2017 and 2018 along with last year's success.
"I know what I'm doing, it's just going out there and committing to something is another thing."
It was one of, if not the worst day as a pro golfer for the 30-year-old, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites after winning last year.
Smith also finished second in the individual LIV Golf standings, but his horror show at Royal Queensland Golf Club also puts his chances of making the Paris Olympics next year in doubt.
Due to playing at LIV, Smith's chances to earn ranking points in order to make the Australian Olympic team are limited - and he'll now look to produce a vastly improved display as next week's Australian Open in Sydney.
“I hope I can get it together for next week and put on a better show than that,” Smith added as he left bitterly disappointed.
.@Minwoo27Lee will take a 1 shot lead heading into the weekend 👀#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/QBkZAA1qm1November 24, 2023
Smith could hardly put a foot right during his round, which would've been made worse playing alongside compatriot Min Woo Lee who shot a sparkling 66 to lead the tournament by one shot from Adam Scott.
“It’s golf, that happens and next week I’m sure he’s going to bounce back, it’s what good players do,” Lee said of Smith.
“With family and friends, in his hometown - a few drinks and loosen up for next week.”
Scott managed one better than Lee with a 65 putting him just a stroke behind heading into the weekend.
"It's always nice to have a bogey-free round, I probably haven't had many of them this year," Scott said.
"I feel like my swing from the tee to the green is feeling better than it has for a while and that's a nice thing for me."
