HOYLAKE, England — Cam Smith, by nature, is a pretty flatline, low-key player who borders on emotionless.

Even when he captured the claret jug as the winner of the 150th British Open a year ago at St. Andrews, you wouldn’t have thought the Aussie had accomplished anything more than winning a weekend match with his boys back in Brisbane at his home course.

Then Smith had to return the claret jug to the Royal & Ancient tournament officials Monday.

“I thought I was going to do all right, but I was actually holding back from tears,’’ the 29-year-old Smith revealed Monday afternoon before playing a practice round at Royal Liverpool. “A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me.’’

Smith, who began the final-round four shots behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, seized the tournament with a dizzying 8-under Sunday, which equaled the lowest final round by an Open champion. His 20-under 268 was the lowest in the 30 Opens played at St. Andrews.

“It still doesn’t feel real — even a year down the road,’’ Smith said. “It’s still a blur.”

Smith’s back-nine 30, the lowest closing nine ever by an Open winner, was, indeed, a blur. It changed his life. And his timing couldn’t have been better. Smith’s name had barely been etched onto the claret jug before LIV Golf was offering him a nine-figure deal to join the Saudi-backed tour, which he did.

The rumors of Smith joining LIV were already swirling during the Open and, as he sat next to the jug in the winner’s press conference, he was asked about the chatter and called the reporter out for what he termed an unfair and inappropriate question.

“It was frustrating at the time, just given the circumstance, but then I guess looking back on it, it’s just a guy just trying to do his job and asked a question that everyone really wanted to know,’’ Smith said.

Because of the whirlwind year that included him winning the Open and joining LIV, the Open victory, Smith said, “does seem like a long time ago.’’

In the year since, Smith enjoyed his new companion, the claret jug, drinking all forms of liquids out of it. “I’ve drank espresso from it some mornings and espresso martinis some nights,” Smith told Golf Digest.

Smith, like many Aussies, is a coffee junkie. His uncle, Trevor, owns a coffee café outside of Brisbane.

Smith recalled a moment at home when he made a “pour over’’ of boiling water through espresso grounds in a paper cone atop the jug, recalling to Golf Digest, “I laughed and thought, ‘This is a bit too dorky.’ I looked over my shoulder because I was worried that Jack [Wilkosz, Smith’s childhood friend and personal assistant] or Shanel [Naoum, Smith’s fiancee] would walk in and ask, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ ’’

Among other beverages Smith enjoyed out of the jug included some rare tequilas at TacoLu, one of his favorite spots near his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where owner Don Nicol graced the jug with some Partida Roble Fino and Herradura Double Barrel.

“TacoLu was one of my favorite nights with the jug because I could show the folks there, who love golf, a piece of history,” Smith told Golf Digest.

“Probably the funnest thing I did it was I took it back to my home club in Brisbane,’’ Smith said Monday. “It was one of the first nights I got back to Australia, so [I] brought the claret jug there, had all the members there, and had a ripping night. For a little country club outside of Brisbane to have the claret jug in it I think was a pretty cool moment.’’

Moment for Smith to cherish forever. Moments for him to try to recreate.

“It’s been so special to have this jug for a year,’’ he told Golf Digest. “Having a replica helps, but it’s nothing like the real thing. Handing it back will fire me up for the week because I really don’t want to give it back.”

When he was reminded on Monday that he can win it back again this week, Smith said, “Yeah, that would be nice. That’s what I’ve been saying to all my mates, ‘It’ll only be a week and we’ll be drinking out of it again.’

“You never know. Sometimes you can play your best golf at major championships and you can run fourth or fifth. Hopefully, it’s another week like last year and I’m back with the trophy.’’