Will the winner of The Open join LIV Golf? Cameron Smith reportedly has his sights set on the competition

No sooner has the new Australian Open champion been engraved on a rare trophy than there are already plenty of questions surrounding his future. The twenty-eight-year-old golfer is said to have his sights set on the controversial LIV Golf Series, which in recent months has been competing with the until recently untouchable PGA Tour.

For the US PGA Tour, it’s an uncomfortable worry. One big name after another is slowly leaving them, and because of the subsidies of a rival competition from Saudi Arabia, the traditional establishment does not wish their players to be active in both enterprises at the same time.

If that happens, the PGA will simply terminate their contract, no matter which star is involved. Gradually, the American tour lost Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and the legendary Phil Mickelson, for example.

The other problem, however, is that this total may be far from complete. According to behind-the-scenes information, newly-minted Major winner Cameron Smith of Australia is set to join the rebel LIV Golf Tour. He captured the 150th anniversary edition of The Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews a few weeks ago.

Right after the tournament at a press conference, Smith was asked a question that was all about switching to the competition: “I’ve just won the British Open and this is what you’re asking? I don’t think that’s right,” the player, who was just minutes away from celebrating his first Major victory, replied to reporters.

“I don’t know, mate. My team takes care of all these things around here. I’m here to win golf tournaments,” he replied. Naturally, his words raised doubts, as he did not confirm but not deny his future at LIV Golf.

According to some speculation, Smith is not expected to announce his signing with a competitor until after the FedEx Cup, the final tournament of which will take place at the end of the summer.

Greg Norman, the main man of the competitive LIV Golf Series said that no more players will be signed for the 2023 edition as the roster of 48 golfers is complete at the moment. Still, in a later interview, he indicated that if there were any other interesting names among those interested, it would be at least worth considering responding.

Likewise, Norman did mention that more names will be announced in the coming weeks to join the 25-tournament series for 2023. So it seems likely that Cameron Smith’s future is already planned and that we are just waiting for the official announcement.

Source: LIV Gof, PGA Tour