Cam Smith thought LIV-PGA Tour merge was a 'joke' after call with Saudi boss

13 June 2023 , 13:10

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Cam Smith thought the LIV-PGA Tour merge was a joke (Image: Getty Images)

Open champion Cam Smith has admitted he thought the announcement that LIV Golf had signed a merging agreement with their PGA Tour rivals was a 'joke'.

Smith shocked the world of golf last summer after deciding to join the LIV setup just weeks after winning the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. The Australian was arguably the breakaway league's biggest coup - and a huge loss for the PGA Tour - having been ranked No. 2 in the world at the time.

Following his Saudi switch it appeared the Champion Golfer of The Year's career on the PGA Tour was over, but last week's announcement could well have changed that.

It remains to be seen what the agreement between the world of golf means in terms of competitions, and who is eligible to play where. The merger announcement seemingly took everybody by surprise last Tuesday, including the players.

Like many others the Smith was taken back by the news, commenting at this week's US Open: "I guess the first reaction was I thought it was kind of a joke that had come out." One of the key figures behind the move is governor of Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

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Yasir Al-Rumayyan is the man behind the merger (AP)

Revealing Al-Rumayyan reached out to him in regard to the agreement, Smith went on: "H.E. [His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan] gave me a call and kind of explained what was going on. He didn't really explain too much. I think there's still a lot of stuff to be worked out, and as time goes on, we'll get to know more and more.

"But there's definitely a lot of curious players, I think, on both sides as to what the future is going to look like." Smith did however have the luxury of founding out the news prior to Al-Rumayyan's official announement when appearing on CNBC.

Cam Smith addressed the deal at the US Open (Getty Images)

"It was just before it went on CNBC," Smith said of when he was contacted by the Saudi chief. "It was probably 10 minutes before he said you can watch the interview if you'd like. I think he was probably calling a few different players, so the call was kind of short and sweet.

"But yeah, he kind of, I guess, didn't really explain much, but just kind of explained what was going to happen on that day, and there was still a lot of stuff to work out." Smith is action at this week's US Open, and will tee it up alongside defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick, and 2022 US Amateur winner Sam Bennett.

Joshua Lees