Cam Smith Says Joining LIV Golf Was A “No Brainer”

Cam Smith had just won PGA Tour Player of the Year and the 2022 Open Championship before joining LIV Golf. Listen in as he tells Jerry Foltz and Su-Ann Heng why it was an easy decision for him.

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you talk about making your bed and making that decision the time that you did you would just name Player of the Year mhm you won the Open Championship we won the Players talk us through that decision process and and what was that final I guess selling point that made you decide to come over here um I think for sure um you know the the business side of it was was something that was was massive um I think the selling point for me though was knowing that we’re going to have an offseason um knowing that I can go back home see my family something that I hadn’t that was one of my sacrifices in being a professional golfer um and to be able to get that back um and still play professional golf was pretty much a no-brainer for me um we just spent uh the last couple years we’ve spent about uh probably 5 months 6 months at home and um yeah that’s uh something money can’t buy and I guess it’s also being able to support you know the events in Australia and going back and having time to go and play in those events must mean a lot to you as well yeah that was uh that’s something that I’ve always kind of done but um it was something that also sacrificed my career on the on the PGA tour uh was taking a couple of events off um where I could have been in the US so um yeah it was uh you know golf golf and australa is is something that’s always been near near and near and dear to me and um yeah to be able to support them support the Juniors a little bit more um get back down there play one more time in Adelaide um all that stuff was just adding up and um yeah I couldn’t miss out on that opportunity what do you hear from the fans down there they’re rabid the Ripper GC fans are absolutely rabid and they’re just so territorial and so proud of you guys what are some of the great comments you hear from from strangers at your home in your Homeland uh I think there’s just all the stuff that you here from time to time you know up the Rippers um all that stuff I know the boys loved it last year um I think the Australian fans are so funny I I just laugh so much on the golf course whether it’s whether I want to give them the credit or not give them the credit sometimes I laugh under my breath and other times I’m I’m laughing at them but they say some of the craziest stuff um and and some stuff that is so witty as well that it just makes you laugh um what’s the funniest thing you’ve had if you’ve heard from from an Australian in the crowd uh I got one last year actually and I don’t know you guys watch cricket yeah yeah so um so I was fing a I was fixing a a pitch mark and I was kind of batting it down I was standing over someone’s line it looked like I was kind of batting down a a rough patch or something in the in the pitch and I’m I’m batting I’m batting it down and then someone goes do you want s a Smitty and I just lost it I almost couldn’t hit my putt um yeah so yeah it just stuff like that um that’s brilliant yeah so good that was really you know I got to walk with you I think two of the three rounds in ide last year and I remember interviewing you I believe it’s on the second or the third green uh you with Brooks you play with Brookie and there were just so many people that just surrounded that green and at one point they were chanting your name and I could see in your eyes that you were starting to get emotional oh you’re going to make me emotional now yeah that was I felt I felt that for you you know and I I had goosebumps myself yeah it’s giving me goosebumps yeah um yeah no it’s it’s so cool um yeah to do what I love and and do it good and um make other people proud is is pretty cool yeah but Australians have I mean it’s my it’s my second favorite country in the world uh next next to next to my homeland of course when I went down there and played I played the Australian tour for season I honestly had I not just been recently married I probably would have stayed I loved it so much down there yeah but what I think I love the most is the is the collective personality of the population such a overwhelming U self s deprecating sense of humor nobody takes themselves too serious nobody takes their life too serious nobody takes each other too serious and the ones that do are basically just outcasts just called wankers and you know get the hell out of here um is that there seems to be quite an element of that amongst Ripper GC as well just that self-deprecating sense of humor not really taking each other too serious oh yeah we we put so much on each other if if you were from the outside look in you would go these guys absolutely hate each other um but yeah we’re we’re four of the best mates in in the world it’s it’s pretty funny it’s um it’s definitely a sense of humor that you take elsewhere and and people really kind of are set back um so yeah we try not to take it too serious out here but but at the same time I think we’re one of the hardest working teams out here so it’s um it’s it’s pretty cool I’ll tell you what just you saying that I had the privilege of living in Australia and I think I was there when I was pretty young yeah and I think when I moved from Singapore to Australia and then being in that environment where people just give you all the time yeah I uh I hardened up pretty quick you know and now I give everyone as you know right and so I love that culture and I love how loyal they are to to sport you know and whether it’s a sporting team or a player or a tennis player or F1 Drive uh they’re just all in there’s no halfway no but they’re so respectful too I mean you can go anywhere in Australia and you get recognized basically by everybody you’re a national hero but they still respect your space they don’t come up and just demolish you as fans do they no it’s it’s it’s good um yeah that it’s it’s such a cool place I I love home so much and uh you know if if I could I would i’ would be there every day of every year but um yeah the the kind of profession that I’ve chosen has kind of taken that away from me so um but I love golf probably a equal as as I love Australia so it’s um it’s a tough one to toss up well at least now you get to to spend more time home so hopefully that that helps um I want to talk about your first win in Chicago back in 2022 it was your second event at Liv and you you beat uh DJ who had beaten you the week before that yeah uh and then you you beat Peter as well Peter Uline how different was that win compared to your other professional wins when you just being on live and winning in Chicago beating DJ how different was that compared to your other I I think um probably given the time that uh that Liv golf was in there was a lot of um kind of hate I guess from from the golfing community and uh you know you see those things or you hear those things about oh he’s off to live golf he’s you know he’s done or yeah whatever um I think for me that was a massive proving point I I desperately wanted to do it in in Boston but um couldn’t quite get over the line and and then to go there and do it um I think was uh really cool for me because just made people aware that um you know I was I was still here to win golf tournaments whether it’s here or there or wherever it doesn’t didn’t really matter and um it was nice to get that one off the chest so early and um it it would have been painful to leave it you know an offseason and come back and do it but um it worked out yeah now now we’re relegated to just four times a year when most not all but most of the greatest players in the game the biggest collection of great players are going to be playing against each other starting next week um your name is mentioned there’s a lot of favorites going in you get you get your respect as a guy who can certainly walk away Victorious at Augusta um do you you think collectively individually for you and collectively for the other guys with live that there is more internal pressure because of what you just mentioned because of the it’s a it’s a dying I mean it’s the crescendo of hate as you say is is certainly taken a much dramatic turn in the last six months yeah um but it’s still there there’s still plenty of plenty of people who don’t want to see live succeed and you you guys are playing almost for a common cause as well as individual Pursuit as well don’t you think yeah yeah I think there’s definitely a feeling of that I don’t think it’s a feeling that we really talk about amongst ourselves um I think everyone has their own uh way and and thought of of dealing with that and um I think I think there is one kind of similar thing is that everyone wants to prove that you know they’re still a great player and we can still win um you know all the tournaments all the majors um we saw it last year with Brooks it was nice for brooksie to take that one for team um yeah so hopefully there’s a a bit of a trend here in the coming years where where we can knock off a few and um yeah it’d be nice