'Hurt' Smith's biggest fear amid ugly golf war

1 year ago 75

Australian prima Cameron Smith has urged satellite play to grant ranking points for LIV events as helium strives to 1 time go No.1.

Smith climbed to No.2 successful the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) last twelvemonth during an unthinkable play that reaped 5 lawsuit wins, including his archetypal large - the British Open.

He besides won the affluent Players' Championship aboriginal successful the year, and each up pocketed upwards of $25 cardinal successful winnings alone implicit the people of 2022.

His defection from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf pursuing his triumph astatine St Andrews successful July proved to beryllium a lucrative decision, but it came astatine a cost.

The bodies who regularisation connected OWGR person truthful acold refused to authorisation LIV arsenic a bona fide nonrecreational league, and truthful the players who person signed with the arguable breakaway circuit are not capable to accrue rankings points.

For Smith, it means helium has slipped from No.2 to No.4 connected the OWGR contempt continuing his winning ways successful the 2nd fractional of the year.

The LIV players proceed to combat for OWGR inclusion but truthful acold the combat has been successful vain.

"I've tried to instrumentality it not that badly, to beryllium honest. I deliberation erstwhile you stone up to a tournament, you cognize who you person to beat, whether there's a satellite ranking oregon not," Smith told media successful Saudi Arabia up of his adjacent tournament.

"There's mostly 7 oregon 8 guys that are successful that tract that you cognize are going to enactment up a beauteous bully fight.

"For definite it hurts. I consciousness arsenic though I was truly adjacent to getting to No.1, and that was decidedly thing I wanted to tick off.

Cameron Smith sends location assemblage into raptures

"But benignant of the longer that this worldly goes on, I deliberation the much obsolete those rankings become. That's conscionable the agelong and abbreviated of it, I think.

"Do we request them? It would beryllium nice, but similar I said, you cognize who you've got to bushed erstwhile you get connected the play course."

Smith is the highest ranked subordinate who has defected to LIV Golf truthful far.

While helium - and each different LIV players - are banned from competing connected the PGA Tour, Smith tin inactive contention the 4 majors fixed they are independently tally events, and helium gains qualification owed to his ranking and his Open triumph past year.

He plans to enactment up astatine Augusta National in aboriginal April, wherever helium had a accidental to triumph the coveted Masters past twelvemonth earlier capitulating connected the past time to manus triumph to Scottie Scheffler.

Smith volition apt past instrumentality Down Under wherever LIV is hosting an lawsuit successful Adelaide from April 21.

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