Cam Smith said having more time to travel home to Australia was another reason he joined LIVGetty Images
Cam Smith yesterday explained his decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, noting that it was “‘unfair’ players joining the tour were locked out of major championships but that it was time for the PGA Tour to be ‘stirred up,'” according to Tom Minear of THE AUSTRALIAN. While the PGA Tour has been “trying to shake up its format in recent weeks to combat LIV … Smith said there was nothing they could have done to keep him.” He revealed top players and even PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan “reached out in an effort to keep him, and while there had been ‘a lot of stuff up in the air’ in recent weeks, he was ‘really excited’ to be joining LIV .” Smith said of the new tour, “This is the future of golf. I love how it is out here. I think it needs to change, particularly as our golf fans become younger. I think we need to do something to make it exciting for them. I think it’s been the same for a very, very long time and it needs to be stirred up a little bit” (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/1). GOLF CHANNEL’s Ryan Lavner noted Smith again “acknowledged that the limited schedule will allow him to spend more time each year back home in Australia” (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 8/31). In Boston, Julia Benbow notes along with the “lucrative signing bonus, playing for LIV Golf afforded him luxuries the PGA Tour couldn’t” (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/1). Golf Channel’s Tripp Isenhour said, “Are there some different avenues for players to get paid, some different ways for the top players to be recognized more? Yes, absolutely golf did need that and the Tour has answered and responded and I hope that wakes the players up and say that they have more power collectively” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 8/31).
HEADED FOR OZ: MORNING READ’s Alex Miceli noted both Smith and fellow Australian Marc Leishman “genuinely seemed excited to make the move.” Leishman “appears to be on the back side of his career.” And Smith, “considered a homebody by many who know him, is looking forward to a reduced schedule, but more importantly the two friends are excited to jump on a plane and fly Down Under.” Smith is “eager to bring LIV to Australia.” Smith said of a LIV event in Australia: “We are working on it. I think it would be awesome for Australian golf. I think Australia needs another event. A few years back, we lost the Aussie Masters, and to bring this new, exciting format to Australia I think will be embraced” (SI.com, 8/31).
MAJOR IMPLICATIONS: GOLF.com’s Sean Zak noted while many LIV signees would “prefer to see change to the system, their joining LIV implies an acceptance that they might not play in the majors at all.” Bubba Watson “admitted that dilemma Wednesday.” Currently, “only a select few LIV golfers are qualified for the 2023 Masters, the next men’s major.” The “relative indifference about being in or out of the majors is a mindset a number of LIV golfers have seemingly adopted, but discussions on the topic are often accompanied by a belief that some sort of decision is bound to arrive” (GOLF.com, 8/31). Watson, a two-time Masters winner, said of that invitational, “If they (Augusta National) tell me I can’t go, (even as a) past champion, then I don’t want to be there anyway because that’s just the wrong way to look at it” (GOLFDIGEST.com, 8/31). GOLF.com’s James Colgan wrote “nobody outside the gates of Augusta National, not even the OWGR’s board members, can decide who earns an invitation to the Masters.” The “only invitational among golf’s majors, Augusta National possesses cart blanche control over who competes every year” (GOLF.com, 8/31).
NO DOWNSIDES? In Australia, Will Swanton notes Smith “took a 30-minute phone call from Ernie Els” the night he won the Open Championship. The story “goes that Els spent a grand total of one minute congratulating Smith on getting the Claret Jug and then 29 minutes trying to talk him out of joining LIV Golf.” But as Open champion, Smith “gets an exemption into all the majors for at least the next five years.” That is “all that matters.” Swanton: “The downside? There was none. All Smith misses out on is PGA Tour events. So what?” (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/1).
MONEY TALKS: In Boston, Ben Volin notes LIV signee Harold Varner III pointed out that his wife “offered clarity” on why he should join the Saudi-backed series. Varner said, “My wife is like, (expletive) everybody. Do what you want to do.” Volin: “And there we have it. The perfect tagline for the upstart golf series. (Expletive) everybody. Do what you want to do.” The players who have jumped to LIV in the last five months have “twisted themselves into pretzels trying to justify the move.” Varner “finally put an end to that nonsense.” LIV is “growing in stature for one reason: Cash. Lots and lots of cash” (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/1). But Varner also said of the reaction to his signing, “It’s terrible. I hate being hated. I’d rather not even be known than be hated” (WASHINGTON POST, 9/1). In Sydney, Andrew Webster writes Smith should confirm his move was “about the money, which Smith initially did until someone — presumably [LIV CEO Greg] Norman — rammed the Kool-Aid down his throat.” Norman has been “mainlining the stuff for a while now.” After telling Golf Digest on Tuesday that $140M was an “offer too good to refuse, Smith had dramatically changed his tune by Thursday morning, denying his decision was ‘first and foremost a business decision'” (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/1).
THE BLACK KNIGHT RISES: Golf HOFer Gary Player this week spoke out against LIV. He said, “How can you ever be a champion playing a tour with 54 holes and no cut? What kind of tour is that? 54 holes, no cut, a team event nobody understands. It’s a tour for people who don’t have confidence in their future. They don’t have the confidence they can be winners. It’s never going to compare to the regular tour. No chance” (GOLFWEEK.com, 8/31). Golf Channel’s Jaime Diaz said, “It’s almost a generational shift a bit where you’re seeing a little less grind in today’s Tour players. Not all of them of course, the champions always have grind. But there are more of them going, ‘Is this really worth it?’ And that’s why LIV became appealing” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 8/31).