Cameron Smith wants LIV Golf to survive but if it doesn’t, he would “100%” return to the PGA Tour.
“I mean, if it was the only option, I think that’s where everyone would want to be for sure, 100%,” the Australian former world No 2 said ahead of this week’s LIV Golf New York event. “It would go back to old times.”
But Smith made it clear he would strongly prefer that the current times with LIV Golf can continue.
“I want it to work, really, to be honest. It’s great fun out here. The team that we’ve got, I feel like we make each other better, better people and better golfers as well,” Smith said. “Yeah, I’d hate to see it go away. We’ll see what happens.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in April that it will not continue its financial support of the league beyond this season. Smith signed with the breakaway league in 2022, receiving a contract reportedly worth $140m.
Smith is the captain of the all-Australian team Ripper GC.
“What we’ve been able to do for golf in Australia is really quite important to me, junior golf, the Little Rippers, the event that we have down there, the people it brings out to showcase our great league,” Smith said.
“It would be a shame for all that to go away, and I feel like we’ve worked really hard over the last three or four years to kind of make that all happen.”
LIV Golf’s Adelaide event in February was among the league’s most popular stops this season and set records for golf in Australia. More than 115,000 fans attended across the week in Adelaide, making it the highest-attended golf event in the country’s history.
“Australian golf is important to me. I think it [LIV] improves it,” Smith said. “I think all the numbers are up. The memberships are up. Social play is up. I think that’s in part because of us. So I think it would be a shame for Australian golf if it did go away.”
Though multiple reports say the LIV Golf Team Championship scheduled for late August in Michigan will be canceled amid the league’s financial troubles, the players have reportedly been told to prepare as if it’s on schedule, and Smith said he’s doing just that.
after newsletter promotion
“We had a great year there last year in Detroit, and we’re hoping we get back there,” he said of the season-ending event set at Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, a Detroit suburb.
“It’s a great golf course, a great venue, and the crowds really turned up as well. Yeah, would be disappointed if it wasn’t.”
Smith said the LIV team is working hard “behind the scenes” to get them playing next year and he hopes to learn more at an upcoming players’ meeting.
“I don’t really understand what is going to happen. I think it’s all up in the air,” he said. “I feel like we’re well-informed, but I feel like a lot of it is still up in the air. We don’t know.”
When asked about his future plans if LIV Golf folds, he said he hasn’t made any.
“I’m contracted to the end of next year, so I was expecting to play until the end of next year and renegotiate and hopefully go on,” Smith said. “I’m a positive guy, so I’ve made no effort to go seek anything else.”
