The controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series has signed world number two Cameron Smith.
In addition to the 29-year-old Australian, the Americans Harold Varner III and Cameron Tringale, Joaquin Niemann from Chile, the Indian Anirban Lahiri and Smith’s compatriot Marc Leishman are also moving to the new tour, according to the Saudi Arabia-funded series.
With the signing of British Open winner Smith, the LIV Tour competed with the established PGA Tour before their fourth tournament in Boston.
After his first major win this summer, Smith was still annoyed when asked about a possible change and announced that he would say something himself if something was fixed. Now only the LIV series announced the obligation.
High entry fees and prize money
LIV Golf attracts the pros with enormously high entry fees and prize money. The new series, in which Germany’s top golfer Martin Kaymer also plays, has been criticized for the millions invested in it by Saudi Arabia. The background is that the country, which has been criticized for human rights violations, is trying to improve its reputation with lucrative sporting events. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour have sanctioned participants in the new tournament series with disqualifications, tournament bans and fines.