Getty Image / Lintao Zhang
Cam Smith tees it up in Miami today for the LIV Golf Invitational tuneup a week ahead of The Masters.
The 2022 Open Championship winner will seek to improve on his 2nd place finish at the 2020 Masters without fans but prior to Augusta and the teams teeing it up at Trump National Doral Golf Course in Miami, Cam Smith spoke with the ‘Fairway To Heaven’ podcast for a lengthy episode.
‘A No Brainer For Me’ — Cam Smith on LIV Golf
About 27 minutes into the episode, Cam Smith talked about why much of LIV Golf is comprised of international golfers like himself, Sergio, Joaquin, and the list goes on and on and on. Smith said:
“The selling point for me was knowing that we were going to have an off-season, knowing that I could go home and see my family. That was one of my sacrifices in being a professional golfer. And to be able to get that back and still play professional golf was pretty much a no brainer for me. The last couple of years we’ve spent probably 5 months, 6 months at home and that’s something money can’t buy.”
Interesting that the ‘selling point’ was a so-called off-season where he could travel back to Australia. Cam lives year-round in Florida. I would have assumed that the ‘selling point’ for Cam Smith to join LIV Golf was the $100 million contract he received compared to the $33.9M he’s earned through PGA Tour events and major championships.
Cameron Smith is Australian. Australia truly could not be further from his home in Florida. I get the feelings of being homesick, I’ve been there having lived abroad in the past. Cam expanded on this some, discussing the importance of golf in Australia and playing there even when he was on the PGA Tour. Cam said:
“That’s something that I’ve always done but something that also sacrificed my career on the PGA Tour, taking a couple of events off where I could have been in the US. Golf in Australia is something that’s always been near and dear to me. So to be able to support them, support the juniors a bit, get back down there, play one more time in Adelaide, all that stuff was just adding up and I couldn’t miss out on that opportunity.”
Sports is a business. Full stop. There’s no need for these guys to justify why they left the PGA Tour for lifestyle changes when the reality is if the earnings were the same as the PGA Tour they never would have left for LIV Golf.
LIV Golf spent a reported $675 million to sign just five PGA Tour players: Mickelson, Dustin, Brooks, Bryson, and Cam. A healthy work-life balance is crucial to mental wellbeing and avoiding burnout but man, why can’t the guys getting paid the most just admit the money was the biggest factor.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with admitting that. Money buys freedom and opportunity, and it’s not as if the global schedule of LIV Golf is easy to keep up with. Flying or driving from Houston to San Antonio in back-to-back weeks for the PGA Tour is a LOT easter than getting from Australia to Singaore or Jeddah to Hong Kong.