Golf news: Cameron Smith becomes poster boy for civil war between LIV Golf and US PGA Tour

Open champion Cameron Smith is torn between joining Greg Norman’s rebel LIV Golf and playing in Australia this summer. And the offer is going to be hard to refuse.

Key figures in Australian golf were among the spectators at St Andrews last week as they held meetings aimed at convincing Cameron Smith to return at the end of the year to play on home soil.

Smith apparently gave every indication he would feature in the Australian Open and PGA but if you believe the rumours emanating in the days following his historic win in the Open Championship, those same officials may have wasted their breath and time.

Smith’s opportunity to play in Australia’s major events later this year may be lost if he falls under the spell of Greg Norman and his pot of Saudi gold.

Australia’s major tournaments are co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour – formerly the European Tour – and while they are yet to blanket ban LIV Tour players, there is every chance they may do so at some point in the future.

It could mean that the holy triumvirate of Australian golf – Smith, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman – are prevented from playing before their home fans should they switch camps.

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Cameron Smith is reportedly being targeted by LIV Golf to switch tours. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP

The world of golf is tying itself in knots at the moment and Australia is on the verge of becoming collateral damage at a time when the sport should be celebrating a landmark moment following Smith’s win at St Andrews.

The headlines in the days after his Open win have been dominated by the LIV invasion. In England, they scream about next year’s Ryder Cup being decimated as European captain Henrik Stenson flirted with LIV Golf.

Before then, the Presidents Cup is to be played and the International team is under siege. Smith would have been their No.1 player but he has become the poster boy for golf’s civil war and there is no shortage of advice coming his way — former US president Donal Trump even waded into the battleground this week.

If you believe the rumours, Smith was staring down the barrel of a payday in excess of $US100 million ($145m) to jump ship before the Open began. There is every chance his price tag soared north of $150 million following his win at St Andrews.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump believes Cameron Smith should take up LIV Golf’s monster offer. Picture: Reuters/Jonathan Drake

Trump suggested Smith should take the money now because when a merger takes place between the US PGA Tour and LIV, the money won’t be on the table. Trump doesn’t always speak with authority but on this front, he has some experience.

He was involved in a breakaway league of his own in the 1980s — the USFL in America, which went head-to-head with the NFL and lost. The USFL was a failure but rebel leagues haven’t always been unmitigated disasters.

World Series Cricket brought the establishment out of the dark ages. Super League only survived for a short time before the competitions quickly merged, but the players benefited to the tune of millions. Some players got very rich, very quick. Those who missed the war were left to rue an opportunity lost.

Smith now finds himself in similar territory. At some point, if the LIV Tour continues to splash the cash and attract the game’s elite players, the US PGA Tour will be left with little choice but to negotiate a compromise.

Cameron Smith has a big decision to make about his future. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

When that happens, the enormous signing fees being offered by the LIV Tour, albeit with money from a nation with a deplorable human rights record, will be gone.

Smith must decide whether to strike now because the opportunity may be lost soon enough. He must do it against a backdrop of intense and unrelenting criticism. The moral high ground has become thick with people pointing out that the dollars being offered to Smith and reportedly compatriots Leishman and Scott is basically blood money.

Offered up by a regime desperate to smother their human rights records. Smith is now in the discussion as this country’s most popular sportsman but that mantle may be under threat should he side with Norman and the Saudis.

Smith seemingly has no interest in playing politics. His only concern is playing a sport he loves and creating a legacy for himself and his family. The LIV Tour would give him the opportunity to set up not just himself, but those close to him.

Who among us wouldn’t have their head turned by a cheque for $150 million. The ramifications are huge. Australian golf is watching closely.

Smith urged to resist rebel tour’s millions

-Brent Read

LIV Tour commissioner Greg Norman is reportedly targeting freshly-minted Open champion Cameron Smith and former Masters winner Adam Scott to headline an All-Australian team on the Saudi-backed rebel tour.

English newspaper The Telegraph is reporting that Norman is pursuing his countrymen as part of a fresh attack on the PGA Tour that could see as many as six high-profile players switch camps in coming months.

Smith bristled at questions over his future as he celebrated his remarkable win at St Andrews, but rumours persist that he may be about to pledge his future to the rebel tour.

Former PGA Tour pro turned radio host Colt Knost claimed on social media that Smith had been offered $90 million to join the LIV Tour.

To put that in perspective. Smith is yet to crack $25 million in career earnings despite being a multiple winner on the US PGA Tour.

His latest win was his most prestigious but it was soured afterwards as Smith became the latest professional to be quizzed over his future amid links with the Norman-led LIV Tour.

Smith would be arguably the most significant signing yet given he is coming off a major win which moved him to No. 2 in the world, behind only American Scottie Scheffler.

Greg Norman has his eye on a pair of Aussie stars for the Saudi-backed rebel LIV golf tour.

Reports out of England also suggest Marc Leishman is being targeted by the LIV Tour as Norman ups his assault on the establishment by pursuing the cream of his countrymen.

The report also suggested Smith could make a decision within days, which would potentially leave him ineligible to play for the international team at the Presidents Cup, to be played in September.

However, should he, Scott and Leishman opt to switch camps and join the Norman-led tour, it could have ramifications for their ability to return to Australia later in the year to play in the Open and PGA.

Both events are co-sanctioned with the DB World Tour, which has instigated sanctions against players who have elected to jump ship.

Some of those players have threatened legal action in response but that only drew condemnation from DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley earlier this month.

“There has been a leak to the media of a letter we received on behalf of a number of LIV Golf players which contains so many inaccuracies that it cannot remain unchallenged,” Pelley wrote.

“Before joining LIV Golf, players knew there would be consequences if they chose money over competition.

“Many of them at the time understood and accepted that. Indeed, as one player named in the letter said in a media interview earlier this year; ‘If they ban me, they ban me.’

“It is not credible that some are now surprised with the actions we have taken.”

Former Open champion Ian Baker-Finch urged Smith to ignore the big money on offer with LIV and establish his legacy on the traditional tours.

“I know that they are talking to him and many others,” Baker-Finch told SEN radio.

“I hope he doesn’t (join LIV) because I think he can leave a great legacy by winning major championships and becoming the best player in the world.

“I don’t think he needs the money. I don’t think it is going to be something that he should do.

“He will be a $100 million guy or more now. Does he want to win more majors or does he want the money? I am hoping he stays and leaves a great legacy like a Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy …. which he could do.

“I think Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy and a lot of those guys that still compete and play well in majors, and want to leave a legacy, they’re the guys I would be following.”

Australia's Marc Leishman is reportedly in the sights of the LIV Tour.

Baker-Finch said he could understand older players switching to LIV, but feared young players doing the same were missing out on the opportunity to become better players and grow their game.

“I think the young guys are missing out,” Baker-Finch said.

“The guys who go join LIV are going to miss out on the grind, what it takes to be a champion, to play in the great tournaments against the great players.

“It is hard work. You’re not going to become a better player by going and playing 54 hole exhibition matches and getting paid $150,000 to finish last.

“I understand the over 40s — the guys who can’t beat the young guys any more. I get it, I totally understand it.

“Go play, have a good time, make good money for your family. I understand it all. I just hate the way they are saying that the other tours haven’t done well by them or aren’t doing a good job.

“I just wish it wasn’t so combative, I wish it wasn’t ruining the ecosystem as we know it. Smithy has won $8 million already. I think that is pretty good.

“The guy that leads the tour over there this year will win $30 million. How can you complain about that? If you want to go play LIV, go play on that tour. Say goodbye.

“But don’t ruin the system or speak ill of the system that has made so many millionaires.”