Is Cam Smith joining LIV Golf changing PGA Tour sanctions?
In addition to LIV golfers suing the PGA Tour, is Cam Smith joining LIV Golf going to change the Tour’s decision to suspend players?
Remember when Cameron Smith was annoyed by a question directed at his possible involvement in LIV Golf immediately after winning the British Open at St. Andrews back in July?
Now we understand why it got on his nerves; the 28-year-old, who didn’t exactly shut down the possibility back then, was in fact already considering making the move, but wasn’t fully ready to tackle that publicly yet.
It looks like now he is though. According to Australian golfer Cameron Percy, Smith is finally making the move to the Saudi-backed league after the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, along with the other Aussie, Marc Leishman. This is all happening at the same time the hearing of the former PGA Tour players, who filed a temporary restraining order against the Tour, takes place.
The next LIV Golf Invitational Series event is set for Sept. 2-4, following the Tour Championship.
Awkward PGA Tour sanctions without Smith
Smith is playing for the first time at the FedEx St. Jude Championship since his victory at the Open Championship, which is the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events. Scottie Scheffler, who believes the PGA Tour is the right place to be, is sitting in first place in the points standings, followed by Smith. As for the winner of six PGA Tour events, Leishman is ranked 62nd in FedEx points.
Related:
While acquiring No. 2 in the world will be a big acquisition for LIV Golf, it might be slightly awkward that next year’s tournament will possibly be without its defending champion (due to the PGA Tour sanctions). The British Open champion hasn’t only won at the Old Course, but he’s also had six PGA Tour victories, including winning the Players Championship this year.
On another note, this will be an interesting tournament for Scheffler, among others, who is curious to see what will happen with the 11 former PGA golfers who filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour, citing the suspensions from the Tour for their decisions to join LIV.