Cameron Smith torched for LIV defection following Masters disaster

Once the world No.2, Cameron Smith now sits 127th. A top US golf analyst says the LIV defector has squandered a career that was destined for greatness.

Australian LIV defector Cameron Smith has sold out and squandered a career destined for greatness, a former PGA Tour player says.

Smith, 31, was a non-event at the Masters where the only headlines he made surrounded the wearing of a blue blazer in a bizarre publicity stunt.

Top US golf analyst Brandel Chamblee said the Queenslander’s dramatic fall off since winning the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews and signing with LIV broke his heart.

How to watch the Masters in Australia?For the first time, the only place to watch the Masters live is Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.

Cameron Smith missed the cut at Augusta. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“When I thought about Cam Smith as a golfer, to me he was analogous to (eight-time major winner) Tom Watson – a phenomenal scrambler, deadly putter, unbelievable under pressure,” Chamblee told CODE Sports.

“He could hit it long, he could hit it high, he was a little wild and unpredictable, but it looked to me like he could go on to become one of the true greats in the game of golf.

“And to see him go to LIV, it really broke my heart. I understand people make decisions based upon their own economics, but he was on his trajectory to be one of the greats.

“I miss him. I follow him around in majors. I’ve met his crew. Nice people, I love them all, but like most of the LIV players, with the exception of a few, they might as well be in the witness protection program.

“You don’t see them except for four times a year and you hardly see them then because almost all of their games have decayed.

“They’re not playing high-level competition. The courses aren’t set up in championship ways and we can talk about whether or not they are motivated because they have all been contractually paid to play these events.

“Is it the best way to sharpen the knife? I don’t think it is.

“They are all flushed with cash. I’m sure they are all enjoying their boats and their cars and their houses, but they are ‘at bottom’ golfers.”

Cameron Smith caused a stir in his blue jacket. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Smith pocketed a reported $220 million to sign with LIV and has since plummeted from No.2 in the world to 127th.

“People watch sports because it matters. There’s nothing that matters about LIV,” Chamblee said.

“None of it matters and everybody knows that. It hardly draws an audience here in the United States after three or four years and upwards of ten billion dollars.”

Chamblee said LIV’s most influential figures, Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson, had gone from being “two of the most popular people in the history of the game to being two of the biggest pariahs”.

“They (Norman and Mickelson) left for greedy, selfish reasons and then tried to take a flamethrower to the PGA Tour.”

Greg Norman’s role at LIV Golf has left him an outcast, according to Chamblee. Picture: Tim Joy

On Smith’s pre-Masters blue blazer stunt, he said: “Again, I like Cam Smith. I do. But it just shows how his mind is not in the right place to compete at the highest level.

“He is wearing a blue jacket because whatever clothing company he represents said it would be nice if you wore this jacket.

“So he’s out there as a bit of a charade, as a bit of a showpony, as opposed to being an athlete.”

LIV star Bryson DeChambeau had been the one exception of the Saudi-backed rebel tour, Chamblee said.

“It’s worked the opposite way for him. I don’t know this to be the case but I just look at his results and I don’t think he’s giving it all at LIV events – I think he’s there working on his game getting ready for majors,” he said.