'They're gone' - Open winner Cameron Smith set to join LIV Golf, claims fellow Australian player Cameron Percy
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Published 09/08/2022 at 18:10 GMT
Rumours have connected the winner of The Open with a move to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, and veteran Cameron Percy is certain that both Cameron Smith and compatriot Marc Leishman will join the breakaway tour. Percy also suggested that Adam Scott, 2013 Masters winner, had held discussions about a Saudi-funded series as early as in 2017.
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Cameron Smith is set to join the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, a fellow Australian golfer has claimed.
Rumours have strongly connected the winner of The Open with a move to the series, which has attracted a number of golf's biggest names this year.
Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Dustin Johnson were among those to join ahead of the first event in June, while American trio Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have all also since defected.
It has been suggested that Smith, the current world No. 2 and also a winner of The Players Championship, may join LIV Golf after the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs.
According to tour veteran Cameron Percy, deals to take Smith and another Australian in Marc Leishman to the Invitational Series are in place, and the 48-year-old questioned the decision of his compatriots.
"Unfortunately, yeah, they're gone," Percy said of Smith and Leishman to RSN Radio Australia in Melbourne.
“The more and more you look into it, some people don’t care, some people have got a conscience and do care.
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“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.”
The first of three FedEx Cup playoff events will be held this weekend at the St. Jude Championship, with Smith currently second in the standings behind Scottie Scheffler.
The usually laid-back 28-year-old had been left annoyed by questions relating to speculation about his playing future after securing his maiden major at St Andrews in July, suggesting he was focused on matters on the course.
“I just won the British Open and you’re asking about that? I think that’s pretty not that good,” Smith responded to a journalist's question.
“I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff, I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
The inaugural series of LIV Golf has so far consisted of three events, with five more scheduled.
The series will conclude in Miami in late October and has been spearheaded by two-time major champion Greg Norman.
Details of a new golf tour to rival the PGA Tour first emerged in 2019, but Percy suggested that Adam Scott, Masters champion in 2013, had held discussions about a breakaway tour as early as in 2017.
“I had a long conversation with (2013 Masters champion) Adam Scott and he was very interesting talking about it, just where it is,” Percy revealed.
“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.”
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Stenson weighing up options after losing Ryder Cup captaincy over LIV Golf
The European Tour has not, as of yet, taken formal action against any defectors, though Henrik Stenson was removed from his position as captain of Europe for next year's Ryder Cup in Italy.
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