Golf news: LIV Tour v PGA tour latest, plus latest from the Australian links
Cameron Smith has made a huge pledge for his golfing future after being offered a reported $100m to abandon the PGA Tour for the rebel LIV Tour.
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Cameron Smith has a claret jug in his possession and he is eyeing off more silverware as he prepares to head back to Australia at the end of the year in the pursuit of glory on home soil.
Smith confirmed his return for the summer in a video message to golf fans on Thursday morning, revealing he would play the PGA at Royal Queensland and the Australian Open, to be shared between Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Clubs.
His return comes only a day after compatriot Marc Leishman confirmed he would return to Australia and shapes as a massive coup for local officials given Smith has risen to No. 2 in the world following his win in the Open Championship at St Andrew’s.
His soaring profile has come with some unwanted attention as well – the Queenslander has become the public face of the fight between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in recent weeks amid suggestions he is on the verge of jumping ship and joining Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed rebel league after reportedly being offered in excess of $US100 million.
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It has been widely reported that Smith will announce his plans after the final event in the FedEx Cup is finished this weekend. Regardless of his decision, he will seemingly be free to return to play in Australia’s major events later this year, both of which are co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
His return ensures the Open and PGA will attract worldwide interest.
“I’ve had an unbelievable year and to be coming home to play tournaments is the icing on the cake,” Smith said.
“I’m so excited to see friends and family again. Some of them I haven’t seen for years now and once I get to the golf course, I’ve got my eye on some more trophies.
“Can’t wait to get back to Brisbane. It has been three pretty long years to be honest.
“Playing at Royal Queensland – a great golf course in front of family and friends – it will be epic there. Winning the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in 2017 and 2018 was awesome so to be playing in Queensland again, wearing my maroon shirt on Sunday around Royal Queensland, will be very special.
“Then to play two of the best golf courses I think in Australia at Victoria and Kingston Heath for the Aussie Open with the girls.
“It will be my first time playing in Melbourne since the 2019 Presidents Cup which was one of the best experiences I’ve had in golf. The crowds were incredible that week and I’m looking forward to a similar atmosphere at Victoria and Kingston Heath.
“I can’t wait to get back home and play some golf in front of you guys. See you soon.”
Smith will start the Tour Championship on Friday morning six shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler after sitting out last week’s event due to injury.
He and the other 29 players in the field will be chasing a first prize of $US18 million.
“An Australian who has won a major championship this year coming home to play in front of their loyal fans is one of the great stories in Australian sport,” PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said.
“Australian golf fans, and especially his fellow Queenslanders, have been itching to see Cameron in action again as his star has risen over the past few years.”
Smith will be joined at the Australian Open by South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, who will contest the women’s event.
“Over the last few years Australian golf fans have loved following the rise of Cameron Smith,” Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said.
“He delights fans of all ages and even young kids have been inspired by him, turning up to golf sporting mullets and dreaming of playing like him.
“For Australian golf fans this is a great opportunity to come and watch Cameron – and to recognise his brilliant achievements, including his most recent Open Championship victory.”
AUSSIE STAR TO UN-LEISH ON HOME SOIL
Marc Leishman has become the latest star to commit to the Australian summer of golf as he prepares to compete on home soil for the first time in three years.
Leishman confirmed his plans to play the Australian Open and PGA in a video message to Australian golfing fans, saying he couldn’t wait to get home after a long and frustrating wait.
A six-time winner on the PGA Tour, Leishman has been linked with a move to the lucrative LIV Tour along with compatriot and world No. 2 Cameron Smith.
Smith is yet to commit to the Australian summer although officials are confident it is only a matter of time before he confirms he will play the Open and PGA.
Leishman, the world No. 63, was a fixture on the Australian scene before Covid played havoc with world golf.
“My family and I cannot wait to come home to Australia and I’m eager to win in front of a home crowd,” Leishman said.
“We’ve not been back to Australia to compete for a while now and I’m buzzing to play in front of the Aussie crowd once again. I’ve always received good support in Queensland and I’m looking forward to the energy of the crowd at the Australian PGA Championship.
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“The last time I played in Australia was at the 2019 Presidents Cup and the Melbourne crowd was sensational. It’ll be brilliant to experience a similar atmosphere at Victoria and I’m looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces come up from my hometown of Warrnambool.”
Leishman joins Hannah Green, Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee in confirming that he will return home for the summer. Smith appears certain to join them.
By then, there is every chance he and Leishman will be members of the LIV Tour rather than the PGA Tour amid speculation their defection could be confirmed as early as Monday.
While the Australian events are cosanctioned with the DP World Tour – which has raised the prospect of sanctions LIV Tour players – local officials are confident that the pair will be free to play in the Open and PGA.
“It is great news to have Marc coming home to play our marquee events again,” PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said.
“He has a fantastic record in the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship having finished top-ten five times and has been one of the top Australian players for a long time now. Australian golf fans love Marc and I know I’m not alone in saying I can’t wait to see him in action this November and December.”
Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said: “Marc is a proud Australian, and a fan favourite, we saw how much he meant to him to represent his country during the Tokyo Olympic Games last year. His commitment to our big tournaments once again shows how much he cares about the game in this country. Hearing the crowds get behind Marc at Royal Queensland, Victoria and Kingston Heath will be something special.”
Smith’s LIV defection date set
—Rick Broadbent
Ian Poulter’s rift with DP World Tour chiefs has deepened in the build-up to what is widely regarded as D-Day in golf’s power struggle.
Sources have confirmed that seven more players will be announced for the LIV Golf breakaway on Monday, just hours after the PGA Tour climaxes at the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup finale that is worth $26 million to the winner. Among those willing to take an indefinite ban from the PGA Tour is Cameron Smith, the Open champion and world number two. Speculation about other names is rife but, contrary to rumours, Tyrrell Hatton will not be one of them.
The seven, who all played at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis a week ago, will be the indisputable proof that LIV Golf is not a retirement home, but the bad blood continues to simmer away.
Poulter, 46, is involved in legal action against both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, but was able to play in the Czech Masters at the weekend, pending the full appeal against DP World Tour sanctions for not gaining necessary releases.
However, he was clearly unhappy with being unable to post filmed clips from the tournament. He said that the DP World Tour “have denied us any footage that was freely available and they’d be happy to share on request in the past”. He added: “Not that I can show you, so you’ll have to take my word for it, [but] we nearly made a hole in one on the 16th today, which would have been some good content. I thought I was a member of the [Tour] but I guess they have other ideas. Well, I am but I’m being treated very differently to a member. I hope we all have a resolve on this as soon as possible.”
A resolution seems unlikely. A DP World Tour spokesman responded by saying: “Based on the recent ruling by Sport Resolutions UK, Ian Poulter is permitted to play in tournaments on the DP World Tour and is at no competitive disadvantage in those appearances. However, his participation is not contingent upon him receiving any offcourse benefits from the DP World Tour.”
Thanks #CzechMasters and @PetrDedekDDreal you run and promote a great tournament. Congratulations.
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) August 21, 2022
Sorry I couldn’t post more videos as @DPWorldTour restricted us. Hope to come back to Czech Republic soon you guys have been amazing. pic.twitter.com/lmsVS14fd2
Last week’s players’ meeting at the BMW Championship in Delaware, with a guest appearance from Tiger Woods, broached the possibility of the PGA Tour creating an almost mirror image of LIV Golf for itself. These tournaments would have limited fields and $30 million prize pots. LIV Golf, bankrolled by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, has attracted scorn for various things including sportswashing, but the 48-man fields and huge purses have also been criticised.
As well as Smith, his fellow Australians Marc Leishman and Adam Scott have been strongly linked with LIV Golf. Hideki Matsuyama is believed to have agreed a deal, although he did not play in Memphis and the PGA Tour is working hard to make it worth him staying. Some others who have been linked, including Patrick Cantlay, Joaquin Niemann and Xander Schauffele, attended the Woods summit in Delaware. Alan Shipnuck, the American journalist who exposed Phil Mickelson’s role in the Saudi negotiations, claimed a deal with Justin Rose was “inches away” before it fell through.
This article was originally published in The Times
TIGER VS SHARK: GOLF CIVIL WAR GOES PRIMETIME
– Brent Read
Get your popcorn ready. Settle into a comfortable seat. Things are about to get tasty. Greg Norman and Tiger Woods were once neighbours in the plush Jupiter Island estate in Florida but they are ready to go to war with the future of golf at stake.
Norman and Woods have never been close. They lived within walking distance of each other but rarely spoke, extraordinary when you think that they share much in common.
When Wood was in high school, Norman was the world No. 1 and took the young prodigy for nine holes. Woods picked his brain for a couple of hours, shook hands and then focused on conquering the world.
Later in life, Norman delivered a handwritten note to Woods’ house after the former world No. 1 capped an extraordinary comeback with a win at the 2019 Masters.
“Tiger, Just got back from a wilderness trip. Congrats on your Masters win. Your journey back
to the top has been truly impressive. Go do a Federer. Greg”
Norman never heard back. Months later, Norman and his son bumped into Woods in south Florida. Tiger thanked Norman for the note and the two men had what is and remains their longest and warmest conversation.
They talked Tiger’s win and his swing, they spoke about children and the state of the game. For a moment, the ice thawed.
Hard to envisage the pair having a warm conversation now given Woods is fast becoming the face of the PGA Tour’s fightback against Norman’s Saudi-backed rebel league, LIV golf.
At one point, Norman had hoped to bring Woods on board. He weighed in with an offer said to be worth somewhere north of $US800 million.
Woods rejected the interest and has now taken the lead in plans to fortify the PGA Tour’s position. The 46-year-old jetted in with Rickie Fowler this week to front a meeting in the lead-up to the BMW Championship where some of the game’s elite players spoke about their loyalty to the PGA Tour and how they can fight off the Saudi threat.
Details are scratchy on who attended but News Corp understands that Australian Adam Scott, a mooted target for Norman and the LIV Tour, was among those at the meeting.
Woods’ decision to reject the big bucks and remain committed to the PGA Tour may be the most significant event yet in the fight for golfing supremacy.
Even more significant than the prospect of Australia’s world No. 2 Cameron Smith jumping ship and joining Norman. As good as Smith has been over the past 12 months, Woods is still the biggest name in world golf.
He carries the sort of gravitas that comes with 15 major wins.
“I think if someone like him is passionate about it, no offence to all of us, but that’s really all that matters,” Justin Thomas said this week.
“If he’s not behind something, then one, it’s probably not a good idea in terms of the betterment of the game, but two, it’s just not going to work.
“He needs to be behind something.”
Norman once had a similar aura among the golfing fraternity but his standing has taken a battering in recent years, most notably over the past 12 months given he is the front man for the Saudi-backed LIV Tour.
Woods has been among those to take aim at Norman, although their relationship has never really been anything other than frosty.
Woods replaced Norman as the No. 1 player in the world in 1997. He worked for years with Norman’s former coach Butch Harmon. He worked with Norman’s former caddie Steve Williams. His home course – The Medallist – was designed by Norman.
On the surface, they should have a friendship. Even Norman was bemused by the fact they never forged a relationship.
“I just don’t know the guy, you know? It’s just crazy,” Norman once said of Woods.
“And I’m not just saying this because I want to get to know the guy, I’m just saying this because there’s a lot of things we have in common.
“It would be interesting if it ever happened to just sit down and have a chat with him like we did outside of the locker room.
“Anyway, it’s probably never going to happen.”
On another occasion, Norman noted: “I would think we could have a good relationship because we like so many of the same things.
“Scuba diving. Boating. Living on Jupiter Island. Golf. We’ve had similar positions in the game. I didn’t win majors anything like he did, but we were both needle movers, to some degree.”
Even now, they continue to move the needle, only it’s going in different directions. Norman wants the world to embrace the LIV Tour and has a blank cheque book at his disposal.
He has made some serious dents already and he is far from finished as the clock ticks down on Smith, and potentially Marc Leishman’s, expected moves to the LIV Tour.
Woods will have a decisive say in how it plays out. Golf’s two alpha males are in opposite corners and itching for a fight. Norman, you get the feeling, will take great delight if he can take Woods and the PGA Tour down.
In the book The Second Life of Tiger Woods, author Michael Bamberger recounts a story that goes to the heart of the Norman-Woods dynamic.
“Norman enjoys telling about the time he was driving behind Tiger on Jupiter Island with his wife, Kirsten, in the passenger seat,” Bamberger wrote.
“Tiger got to the drawbridge leading off the island just as it was going up. Norman positioned his car beside Tiger’s.
“‘I got ahead of his security detail,” Norman said, describing it playfully. “We’re side-by-side. Had to be the longest eight minutes of Tiger’s life.
“‘I’m talking to Kirsten, so I’m looking his way. She rolls down the window. I said, ‘Hi, Tiger!’ Nothing. Tiger storms off.”
Tiger isn’t going anywhere this time. Nor is Norman.
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Originally published as Golf news: LIV Tour v PGA tour latest, plus latest from the Australian links
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