Cameron Smith’s frustrations at the Australian Open continue with the major champion annoyed by a pace of play drama during his disastrous back nine during the second round at Kingston Heath.

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Smith started on fire with an eagle and three birdies in his opening six holes, but undid all his good work in a calamitous second nine to finish the day even par, and still -6 for the tournament – eight shots back from leader Lucas Herbert.

To make matters worse, Smith’s group – which included Australian PGA champion Elvis Smylie and PGA Tour player Victor Perez – were put on the clock by tournament officials during their back nine to try hurry up a slow pace of a play.

Smith implodes in stunning Aus Open meltdown; Aussie charges clear in wild afternoon — Round 2 Wrap

It was a call the 2022 British Open champion strongly disagreed with, and pointed the finger squarely at his former scholarship recipient Smylie, as it also happened when they played together in the final round in Brisbane last week.

“I don’t get put on the clock too often. I feel like we do a pretty good job. There is a common denominator there that’s a little bit slower,” Smith said.

“It’s not something I like because I feel like I’m a pretty fast paced player as it is, so being put on the clock is just another thing. I feel like I did my best to play as quick as I can, and I feel like I’m running around.

“I just made a couple of poor choices. We got on the clock there and it didn’t seem like we were playing that slow, and it felt like we were just rushing. Made some really poor choices mentally, I think, led to a few bogeys. You, kind of, get on that train in that wind and it’s not a good spot to be in.”

When asked if he would speak to Smylie about speeding up his pace of play, Smith said that he will not because “it’s not my job to”.

“I think there’s better ways to go about that stuff, but that’s another topic,” he said.

As Smith unravelled, Smylie put on a clinic.

He reeled off nine birdies in a stunning -8 round that moved him to -9 for the tournament, and into contention to pull off a rare double of winning Australia’s two premier tournaments back-to-back.

He was methodical and moved around the course with surgical like precision, that he believes he did at a fine speed.

“It’s a group thing, it’s not an individual,” Smylie said.

“I feel like I do a very good job whenever I am in the position when I have to keep up with the pace of play.

“I did a really good job of just focusing on my own game, especially when we were falling a little bit behind, pace wise. I was just trying to do my best of walking to the ball and making sure I did my routine, process, and go as soon as I was there to keep the pace up.

“I wasn’t really too concerned what Victor and Cam were doing, but eight-under today, I’m really happy with that. It’s definitely catapulted me back up the leaderboard and excited for the next two days.”

Smylie admitted that being put on the clock by officials did make him feel “more anxious”, but the 23-year-old was pleased with the maturity he displayed.

“I just got into an assertive speed with it. I still did a really good job of going through my routine and process,” he said.

“But when you are put on the clock, you definitely feel a lot more anxious.”

Smith’s latest gripe comes after criticising the course conditions at Kingston Heath and Victoria after Wednesday’s pro-am as well as Thursday’s opening round.

He slammed the “soft and slow” greens when the Melbourne Sandbelt is traditionally hard and fast, and does not allow golfers to simply target the pin and stop the ball close to its landing point.

Melbourne was lashed by wild storms on Wednesday as well as experiencing heavy rain in the three days prior, and more rain is forecast for the weekend.