[PHOTO: Asanka Ratnayake]
Despite winning the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews, Cam Smith has seen his follow-up starts at the game’s oldest major turn out a bit shaky. The LIV Golf star had a T-33 finish at Royal Liverpool in 2023 and missed the cut this July at Royal Troon. Now, he’s not blaming everything on the LIV Golf schedule, but Smith does think a links event on the circuit’s 2025 calendar heading into The Open at Royal Portrush might be the perfect addition to the fledgling league.
The former world No.2 is joining Jon Rahm in a push for LIV Golf to add a links tournament in the lead-up to the UK major. Rahm was the only LIV golfer to finish inside the top 10 at Troon with many struggling with the rugged coastline golf.
The 2024 LIV schedule didn’t help matters with the pros teeing off at Valderrama in Andalucia, Spain, the week before The Open. It was a drastically different style of golf, and moving forward Smith and Rahm would rather have a links-esque competition in its place if possible.
“It was really two polar opposites of golf,” Smith told News.com.au. “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.
“It’s definitely something that we spoke about. They [LIV] 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.”
Rahm pushed for something similar earlier this year in a conversation with Golf Digest. Despite finishing T-2 and T-7 at The Open the past two years, the Spaniard wants more of a chance to adjust to the old-school play.
“There’s so much that goes into adjusting to links golf, getting used to the greens and the ball reacting on the ground,” Rahm said. “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.
“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 [on LIV] 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.”
This is far from the first time that former PGA Tour pros have pushed for schedule changes since joining LIV Golf, and it looks like LIV has been open to listening and making tweaks.
For instance, LIV has been adding more tournaments heading into the Masters after players wanted to play more before the first men’s major. The 2025 LIV season has already announced an Asian swing in February, plus Hong Kong and Singapore outings in March.
“The schedule we got next year, we’re playing a little bit more before that first major,” Smith said. “That was the change that was made for us players, and they’ve done a really good job of acknowledging that and making some changes.”
