Only a few weeks removed from winning The Open at St. Andrews, Cameron Smith is reportedly set to join the LIV Golf series after inking a $100M deal.
According to The Telegraph, Smith has chosen to leave the PGA Tour in the near future and join the Saudi backed startup after being offered a 9 figure sum. The report was seemingly then confirmed by fellow Australian pro Cameron Percy who remarked “Unfortunate, yeah, they’re gone” when discussing Smith on the RSN podcast with Marc Leishman.
Smith himself has yet to confirm the departure, but he’s also yet to deny it outright either. When pressed by reporters ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the 28 year responded “I have no comment to that. Like I said, I’m here to play the FedExCup Playoffs. That’s been my focus the last week and a half, that’s what I’m here to do, I’m here to win the FedExCup Playoffs.”
Reports indicate that the LIV Golf series is hoping to form an “all Aussie” team headlined by Smith as early as September 2nd at their event in Boston. That timeline would seem to make sense as it would allow Smith to compete in the 3 FedEx Cup events, while avoiding a potential ban from the PGA similar to other LIV players.
Earlier this week a federal judge rejected a temporary injunction for Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford who appealed their PGA ban as a result of their participation in the LIV Golf series.
“They made a business decision to receive money,” PGA Tour lawyer Elliot Peters argued. “They have made in the last two months more money than they’ve ever made on the PGA Tour. They have already been paid to compensate for what they are here complaining about.”
Smith’s silence regarding his future could also be viewed as a sound “business decision” as well, as his media manoeuvring will allow the world number 2 to still vie for the PGA Tour’s $18M grand prize later this month. Playing arguably the best golf of his career in 2022, Smith could conceivably win the PGA’s most lucrative event and then leave the tour for good a week later.
One small hiccup which could delay a possible September LIV debut for Smith is his desire to compete in the President’s Cup, currently slated for September 19-25th. Because the PGA organizes the event, Smith stands to miss out on the tournament if he takes part in an LIV event prior to that.
Regardless of when his debut might occur, if Smith does indeed become the latest star to defect to the rival tour, it would be yet another blow to the PGA in a year filled with turmoil off the course.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner