The 2026 LIV Golf season starts next February under the lights in Riyadh, and in the next few months, we’ll take a detailed look at each player competing next season. Next up is former Open Champion and three-time winner on LIV Golf, Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith.
LOOKING AHEAD
Golf is a game where form comes and goes, even at the highest level. There’s no denying that Smith’s play over the past 18 months has been disappointing but writing him off would be premature. At 32 years old, Smith is in his prime and has the talent and ceiling to compete with the best players in golf once again.
Smith has never been (and never will be) the longest or most accurate ball-striker in the world. Yet history shows that when he’s simply average off the tee and on approach shots, his scoring-club wizardry turns him into a top-5 player on LIV Golf and a threat to win anywhere in the world. A modest rebound in ball-striking in 2026 could easily flip the script.
LOOKING BACK
Smith found himself safely inside the Lock Zone, but he was far from the dominant force that once made him one of the best players on the planet. The Ripper GC captain won two LIV Golf titles in 2023 but has now gone two full seasons without a victory. 2025 delivered his lowest-ever finish in the season-long race and the first time in his LIV Golf career that he’s landed outside the top 10 (2nd in 2023, 7th in 2024). While his five top-10s were still the most on Ripper GC, only one cracked the top 5: a T5 in Mexico City. He also missed the cut at all four major championships. Considering his first child was born in March, the dip in form could just be a temporary for the former Open Champion.
