Welcome to LIV Golf, Cameron Smith.
The Australian will make his debut for LIV Golf this week in Boston after headlining the latest list of six golfers defecting from the PGA Tour. He’s reportedly hundreds of millions of dollars richer, but many questions lie ahead.
Bubba Watson, who is also making his LIV Golf debut this week, argued that Smith will “fall off the map” if players do not get world ranking points from LIV Golf events – as is currently the case.
“The No. 2 player in the world is going to fall off the map at some point,” Watson said during a press conference on Wednesday. “That’s sad. So that’s not the best players in the world [playing in the majors] if you are going to count out a player like this.”
Unlike many of the players the Saudi-backed LIV has recruited away from the PGA Tour, Smith — 29 years old and two months removed from winning the British Open — is an ascending player in the sport.
“It’s really a shame that we are not getting world ranking points out here,” Smith said.
“To have 48 of the best guys around the world playing, and not to get world ranking points, is perhaps a little bit unfair. It’s still super competitive out here. I just really think it’s a little bit unfair.”
The future at majors for LIV players remains in question as the golf world figures out how to deal with the upstart tour. LIV players were banned from the PGA Tour, but were allowed to play in the majors this year.
Watson himself is grappling with the possibility of not being welcomed back to The Masters as a two-time champion.
“I told my kids that there is a chance, there is a possibility that we can’t go to Augusta,” Watson said. “I told them, if they tell me that I can’t go, being a past champion, then I don’t want to be there anyway because that’s just the wrong way to look at it. It’s the game of golf. We are all trying to be the best players.”
If LIV Golf players were looking for support from legend Gary Player, who is an ambassador for Golf Saudi, they were sorely mistaken. The South African slammed Smith in a recent BBC Interview, according to Golf Monthly.
“I was absolutely shocked to hear Cameron Smith [had joined LIV Golf],” Player said. “Here’s a young man that I really thought was going to be a superstar. Now, what sort of future does he have? Will he be allowed to play in majors in the future? Will he be able to realize this great dream of being a champion? I don’t know.”
LIV Golf has been for their 54-hole no-cut format, which PGA Tour stalwarts have argued limits the nature of competitive events.
“I’ve played golf all my life and I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for my nine majors on both Tours,” Player said. “The only man to win the Grand Slam on both Tours and 165 tournaments. I worked hard. I had a desire. I traveled the world, it was an education. I met wonderful people. How can you ever be a champion playing 54 holes with no cut?”
The Boston event, which tees off at The International on Friday, is the fourth of eight events in LIV Golf’s inaugural season.
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