AUGUSTA, Ga. — Cameron Smith arrived at Augusta National Golf Club on Monday morning and wasn’t sure what his reception would be like when he stepped on the practice range.
After all, the discourse between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour hasn’t exactly been friendly, especially from those who will be at Tuesday night’s annual Masters Champions Dinner. But after an hour on the range, the Aussie was pleasantly surprised with his interactions with other players.
“It was good to see some familiar faces. Lots of laughs and lots of handshakes, and it was really nice,” explained Smith, the lone LIV player of the 18 on site to face the media in a press conference this week. “I didn’t want to expect too much but at the same time, I kind of wanted that, not only for myself but just for the game of golf. I think there’s a lot of stuff going on at the moment that doesn’t need to be going on, especially in the media. I think it’s definitely wound up a little bit too much.”
LIV Golf has been a disruptor in the game since its inception, and the majority of its players weren’t shy about burning bridges after they left for the upstart circuit that’s led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
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Recently, however, players like Smith, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson have downplayed the tension between both factions on either side of the pro golf aisle. Meanwhile, LIV CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman has complained about not being invited this week and claimed there will be a LIV party on the 18th green if one of his lot were to win come Sunday, and Fred Couples stood by his recent flamethrower comments about Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
“There definitely hasn’t been a conversation with me. If there was one, I definitely got left out of that one,” Smith said with a laugh regarding Norman’s comments. “For sure I’d love to see one of us guys get up to the top of the leaderboard and really give it a nice shot.”
“I think it’s just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we need to be up there,” Smith continued. “I think there’s a lot of chatter about, ‘these guys don’t play real golf; these guys don’t play real golf courses.’ For sure, I’ll be the first one to say, the fields aren’t as strong. I’m the first one to say that.
“But we’ve still got a lot of guys up there that can play some really serious golf, and…
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