Cameron Smith’s move to LIV Golf could prompt a raft of tough measures from PGA Tour, majors

I don’t think people have yet grasped the enormity of Cameron Smith’s move to LIV Golf.

As it stands, he has forgone the chance to ever become world No.1, probably won’t get to defend The Open title he won at St Andrews last month and may be shut-out of all four majors for the rest of his career (and all this at the very young age of 29).

In other words, with one decision, Smith appears to have cost himself the opportunity to achieve all the things Greg Norman did over the course of his decorated career.

I think this is sad. Smith has been playing like the best golfer in the world of late and stormed to No.2 in the rankings after becoming just the second player after Jack Nicklaus to win The Players Championship and The Open in the same year. And now, with the summit well within sight, he has walked away. It’s a massive call on so many fronts.

I can see both sides of the LIV debate. On the one side, you have the accusations of Saudi “sportswashing” and the links to 9/11 and the country’s poor human rights records. On the other, you have stacks of cash that, if we’re honest with ourselves, any person on this planet would find difficult to knock back. The figures are insane. $100 million? Who turns that down?

Just saying it out loud makes it sound unreal, like Monopoly money.

I understand why a Marc Leishman, a Phil Mickelson, an Ian Poulter or a Lee Westwood would take the LIV money and run. They’re in their late 30s to early 50s and at a stage in their careers where abilities decline and bodies break down. If I was that age, and that kind of money was put in front of me, I’d take it, too, if I’m being honest.

But Smith is different. He’s in his 20s. The golfing world is at his feet. He could probably get paid $30, $40, $50 million a year now in contracts for the next five years. He’s as talented and marketable as they come and could make $200 million in the next five years off the golf course. I mean, Rory McIlroy just made $20 million in a week!

Smith has forgone all that. And potentially much, much more.

There are plenty of rumours swirling around golf that the four majors will fall in behind the PGA Tour and block LIV golfers from entering their events. The majors obviously have deep relationships with the tour, and the likes of Rory and Tiger are working hard behind the scenes to block anyone who defects to LIV from returning to the PGA Tour or the majors.

Smith mentioned that part of his reason for signing with LIV was to spend more time at home. I don’t quite get that. He could’ve arranged the same schedule for himself on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods used to only play around 15 PGA events each season. Cam, in the position he’s in, could have called the shots to a large extent in terms of where and when he played.

It worries me. Have we seen the last of Cam playing against the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy? Has he teed up in his last major? In my opinion, it would be a disgrace to golf if Smith is denied the chance to defend his Open title next year – and a crying shame if he has played his last major ever before his 30th birthday.

Norman’s motivations

When I turned pro, I distinctly remember Greg Norman’s advice.

“Go to Europe, learn your game there and, when you’ve nailed it, come to the US. The PGA Tour is the pinnacle.”

I’ve thought about that a fair bit recently. So, everything he told me when I was 21, was that all bullshit? Did he think all these things he’s saying now about the Tour but kept it to himself? Or is this a view that has taken hold over time?

I understand what Greg is trying to do. He attempted something similar to this in 1994-95 and it didn’t take off. If all goes well, this could be a new World Series Cricket and he could be playing the role of Kerry Packer which, I think we’d all agree, ended up being a great thing for cricket. But there is so much still to play out here and lots of questions that remain unanswered.

Does Greg have the best intentions for the game? I don’t know. Is he pissed off with the PGA Tour from back then? I would say yes. Is he doing this out of spite? Only he could say for sure, but there is certainly a view within the game that he has jumped at the chance to throw dirt in the face of those he believes wronged him in the past.

It goes on.

How does LIV Golf help world golf? What if the Saudi backers get bored of all this at some point? Do they just pull the pin? Where would that leave everyone? For the older guys, who have already had nice careers and played their share of majors, they’ll be fine: a legacy already established and a nice retirement fund to cap it all off. But it’s the kids I worry about. The future for them is far less certain.

There are already examples of young players who have signed with LIV Golf and been squeezed out when bigger names have defected afterwards. I guess they could go to the Asian Tour and earn world rankings points there. But with only 48 players invited to LIV events, and all roads back to the PGA Tour apparently blocked, opportunities for them henceforth are very limited.

There is going to be more of this.

I believe up to five more players will switch to LIV Golf after the Presidents Cup. There are rumours that Hideki Matsuyama has been offered a huge contract so LIV can crack the Japanese TV market, but also counter-rumours that he has given his commitment to the PGA Tour. Maybe he got talked out of it? I don’t know. It’s certainly been doing the rounds.

What I would say is that, in my experience, I have not heard one positive remark from players about LIV, other than those who have signed with them, outside of, ‘it’s a shitload of money’. Players don’t like what it’s doing to the game, and they question Greg’s motivations. The PGA Tour is open for 144 to 156 players every week, has a great pathways system (for itself and now LIV, ironically) and has donated more than $3 billion to charity. How does LIV Golf – with its three-rounds, shotgun starts, 44 invitees only – make the game better? It’s not easy to see at this stage.

The PGA Tour absolutely needed to evolve. Every business does.

We are one of the only sports in the world where the athletes cover their own expenses. We pay for our plane ticket to each tournament, caddies and expenses – food, hotel, all of it. That usually comes to around $10,000 a week. So, you can play a whole week, shoot four or five-under, miss the cut by one, and not get paid. I’ve had runs where I’ve missed eight or nine cuts in a row. That cost me $140,000 over a 13 or 14-week span. It’s a big hit.

Still, it gives plenty back. For those who make it, it’s a great life. I noted Westwood saying recently how bad the PGA Tour is – but when he was playing on it and winning he was loving it.

Collateral damage

Cam Smith and Marc Leishman are two of the nicest blokes on the planet. I respect their decision and might well have made the same call if I was in their shoes. I have no issues with them whatsoever.

It’s life-changing money.

But I do have questions.

First and foremost, where does this all end? It’s hard to see either party compromising at this stage with so much money and power at stake. If you were to ask me today what the future holds for Cam and Marc, I’d say they will play LIV events only for the rest of their careers.

No PGA Tour. No majors.

No one wins in that model. Yes, golfers get paid, but neither side could ever again say hand-on-heart that their events featured the best versus the best.

There are also more macro questions.

Now that Cam and Marc have jumped the fence, to what extent will the gloves be off for the PGA Tour? Will they lean on Australian golfing authorities to ban ‘LIV Aussies’? And, if Australia says no, could the PGA Tour revoke invitations for the Australian Order of Merit winner into world events like Bay Hill and Memorial?

Could they block the Presidents Cup from coming down here and, with it, the millions of dollars it raises for charities when it’s in town?

They have the power to do this and a lot of people, mostly up-and-coming young golfers, could end up as collateral damage. Lucas Herbert came through that way and had a lot of success on the PGA Tour. Could he be one of the last of his kind if Australia doesn’t take a hard line stance on Greg, Cam, Marc and co? Could the PGA Tour say to Australia, ‘If you don’t support us, we won’t support you’?

I sincerely hope not.

I understand that LIV Golf is planning on hosting tournaments in Australia. That’s obviously a good thing for people who want to go to events. It’s been a while since big names, like those on LIV’s books, have played the Aussie summer. But then what? With a field of only 48 players, what opportunities does it open up for local golfers outside of those elite few we’ve mentioned? What legacy does it leave?

I’ll be interested to see what Cam has to say after his first LIV event.

He may love it. He may hate it (although in that case, he’ll still have to say he loves it!).

But it certainly feels that, after the news of the last 24 hours, the golfing world will never be quite the same again.

Robert Allenby has donated his fee for this column to Challenge, supporting children and families living with cancer, in memory of his friend Jarrod Lyle: https://www.challenge.org.au/