Cameron Smith has joined Jon Rahm in calling for LIV Golf to add a links event to its calendar to aid preparation for The Open.
LIV Golf players were unable to get the necessary links preparation for Royal Troon this year due to the Valderrama event taking place the week before, with the iconic treelined Spanish venue offering up a contrasting test to the much colder, windier and firmer conditions on show at Royal Troon.
Jon Rahm was the only LIV player to finish inside the top-10 in Scotland, while no LIV golfers were in the top-10 at the 2023 Open.
“It was really two polar opposites of golf,” Cameron Smith told news.com.au’s Marco Monteverde on the differences between LIV Golf Valderrama and the following week’s Open Championship.
“It was really hot [at Valderrama], the ball was going a long way up in altitude, and then getting on to links (at Royal Troon) where it’s quite cold and windy, it’s probably not the best prep,” Smith, who missed the cut at Royal Troon, continued.
“It’s definitely something that we spoke about. They [LIV Golf] are well aware of that.
“I don’t know if it’ll happen next year, but definitely in the future it’s something that we want to do.”
Smith missed his first Open cut since 2017 this year at Royal Troon
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Smith’s words echo those of Jon Rahm, who told Golf Digest’s Evin Priest in July that he is “pushing” for a links event to be added to the LIV Golf schedule.
“I would hope so; I’m pushing for it. There’s so much that goes into adjusting to links golf; getting used to the greens and the ball reacting on the ground. I didn’t think about it until after [Troon], but it’s undeniable how much it helps to play a links golf course the week before the Open,” the Spaniard said.
“Obviously, LIV management have contracts in place with some venues and plans in the future. It’s not as easy as it sounds to just say, ‘Well, let’s do this.’ [But] it’d be something I would like to talk to other players about because that way, there’s strength in numbers if five, six or 10 solid players [all agree]. I think a lot of people might agree with it.”
Every Open champion since Shane Lowry in 2019 has played in the Scottish Open the week before their Claret Jug triumph, although Lowry did tee it up in the Irish…
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