Cameron Smith provides worrying health update ahead of 2024 Masters

Cameron Smith says his game feels good despite spending a weekend in bed after his 'body shut down' days before the 2024 Masters. 

The 2022 Open champion withdrew from LIV Golf's fifth event of the season after 18 holes last week in Miami. 

LIV Golf star Cameron Smith takes hilarious tumble in Rae's Creek! #TheMasters 

https://t.co/t60w1mdhSM pic.twitter.com/ktaqW9z5MR

— Andy Roberts (@AndyRobertsGolf) April 9, 2024

His withdrawal immediately led to speculation that he wasn't going to be fit for the first major of the year this week at Augusta National. 

But he is in the field and, despite still feeling a bit worse for wear, he is ready to go. 

Related:

• Golf fans all say same thing after seeing Brooks Koepka's R1/R2 group
• Tiger Woods offers unsurprising answer to Rory McIlroy Masters question

"[I] probably just tried to do a little bit too much and [my] body just kind of shut down on me," said Smith, who is making his eighth Masters appearance. 

"[I] spent the weekend in the bed, which wasn't the greatest preparation, but I was just saying that today is probably the first day where I feel like I've got a little bit of energy. 

"I'm sure I'll be pretty cooked tonight. At least I could get around and feel okay."

Of his game, he said: "Game feels good. I was just saying to Gary [Woodland], probably a few weeks there at the start of the year, [where I was] trying to address some stuff in the swing and just felt a little bit uncomfortable and [it was] just hard to commit on some really tough driving courses, to be honest. 

"It was good to play nice in Hong Kong and kind of know that it's still there. It was feeling nice last week."

Smith has four top-10 finishes in the past six years at Augusta National, including a runner-up in 2020 when became the first in Masters history to post four rounds in the 60s in a single tournament. 

He went toe-to-toe with Scottie Scheffler during the final round of the 2022 Masters when the American slipped on the green jacket. 

His challenge came to a devastating end when Rae's Creek claimed another victim. 

Smith bounced back in 2023 and tied for third as Jon Rahm won.

The aforementioned Scheffler is the overwhelming favourite to claim his second Masters title. 

Smith will be playing the first two rounds of the 2024 Masters with Wyndham Clark and Viktor Hovland. 

Hovland spoke to reporters on Tuesday, too, whereby he detailed the reasons for splitting with his golf coach.