Cameron Smith starts his 2023 season in Saudi Arabia with LIV allies

Aussie star Cameron Smith will start his 2023 season this week as golf’s war continues to create tension.

Australian Cam Smith will return to tournament golf in Saudi Arabia. Picture by Michael Klein

Australian star Cameron Smith will open his 2023 season in Saudi Arabia this week with most of his LIV Golf cohorts amid an expectation their bans from at least the DP World Tour will soon end.

But that doesn’t mean golf’s war will thaw.

On the back of Rory McIlroy’s last-round showdown with LIV member Patrick Reed in Dubai last weekend, veteran Phil Mickelson declared that sort of rivalry created “a lot more excitement” in the game.

Tensions remain between those who stayed loyal to the established tours and those who moved to LIV, Greg Norman’s billion-dollar breakaway funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, including Smith.

The PIF is the major sponsor of the Saudi International where Mickelson, Smith and fellow LIV headliners Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka will start their 2023 seasons.

Phil Mickelson says the rivalry creates ‘excitement’. Picture: Eric Espada / Getty Images North America / AFP

Several LIV members are also engaged in lawsuits with both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, challenging their bans from playing on both.

Mickelson suggested those legal battles would soon be won and battles between players from the two groups, mirroring the McIlroy and Reed battle, would be more regular and good for the game.

“In a couple of weeks I expect that the players, the LIV players, will win their case in the UK, and we’ll open the doors for all players to play on the European Tour (DP World Tour),” he said on Wednesday.

“There’s a very good chance that you’ll have more showdowns, more head-to-head competitions like you saw last week in Dubai, and I think that would be a really good thing for the game.

“I thought it was great for the game to have that type of interest, and it’s been interest throughout the globe. That’s a really good thing.”

Smith hasn’t played since scraping into the weekend at the Australian Open and finishing in a tie for 47th last December following his memorable win in the Australian PGA.

The world No.4 will be playing for world ranking points in Saudi Arabia for the third event in a row, having slipped just two spots from his career-high ranking of two since joining LIV.

Get ready for LIV Golf League 2023 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tHOR0CF1IG

— LIV Golf (@LIVGolfInv) January 30, 2023

There are still no world ranking points on offer for LIV events, of which there will be 14 in 2023.

But LIV players have been given the green light to play at least three majors, including the Masters, and two-time champion Bubba Watson, a LIV player, laughed off fellow winner Adam Scott’s suggestion there could be tension at the champions dinner.

“Hey, as long as I’m in the champions dinner, I’m fine. I’ll sit wherever he tells me,” he said.

“As long as I’m allowed back, I’ll sit wherever he wants me to. I’ll sit outside and just stare in the window.”

Originally published as Cameron Smith starts his 2023 season in Saudi Arabia with LIV allies