Cameron Smith heading for LIV Golf, claims Australian golfer Cameron Percy

The world No 2 won the Open Championship at St Andrews last month and will compete at the FedEx Cup, which kicks off this week

Jack Rathborn
Tuesday 09 August 2022 15:01 BST
Comments
Cameron Smith Wins The Open Championship

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Cameron Smith is “gone” and will soon join LIV Golf, according to The Open champion’s compatriot Cameron Percy.

Percy, who finished eighth at the Wyndham Championship last weekend, also confirmed to RSN Radio that Marc Leishman will join Smith and switch to the Saudi rebel tour.

“Unfortunate, yeah, they’re gone,” Percy said, with the sport’s civil war showing no sign of easing up as the PGA Tour enters the start of the FedEx Cup, with several LIV Golf players hoping to tee it up and overturn their bans with a court hearing due.

The news follows weeks of speculation surrounding Smith’s future, following his iconic victory at St Andrews, taking down Rory McIlroy with a scintillating run of five successive birdies on the back nine of a Sunday round of 64, clinching a one-stroke victory.

The 28-year-old was hostile towards the media when immediately asked about rumours of a switch but refused to rule out a move.

“I just won the British Open and you’re asking about that? I think that’s pretty- not that good,” Smith said. “I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff, I’m here to win golf tournaments.”

Percy also discussed the timeline for LIV Golf’s prominence in the game, sharing a conversation with former Masters champion Adam Scott, who revealed discussions for the breakaway tour took place as far back as 2017.

“I had a long conversation with (2013 Masters champion) Adam Scott and he was very interesting talking to about it, just where it is,” he said.

“He said he met with these guys (LIV) in 2017 (and) they were ready (to) do all this. So, the tour has known for a long time that this stuff’s in the works.”

Smith, the world No 2, would become the highested ranked player to make the move if he accepts a figure worth a reported $100m, but Percy has questioned the ethical nature of accepting such exorbitant sums of money given its source.

“The more and more you look into it, some people don’t care, some people have got a conscience and do care,” he added.

“It really comes down to, you know, ‘they just executed 80 people this week, just chopped their heads off’. They’re not the nicest people in the world.

“Do you just look past that and go, ‘Oh well, I’m rich I don’t really care’. It’s a tough one, it really is.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in