For Cameron Smith, 2022 has been a spectacular year. The Australian golfer is living the best moment of his career after winning the Players Championship and the Open Championship at St. Andrews. That victory in Scotland, his first in a Major, was phenomenal after Smithshot a final round of 64 taking away the Claret Jug from Northern Ireland’s superstar: Rory McIlroy.
After such an impressive run in the last months, Cameron Smith took home the 2022 PGA Player of the Year Award.Smith won three times during the 2021-22 season and that was enough to reach 96 overall points. Scottie Scheffler was second with 94 points and Rory McIlroy finished third with 62 points after winning the 2022 FedEx Cup.
Considering that right now Cameron Smith is one of the best golfers in the world, he should have been an automatic pick forthe International Team in the 2022 Presidents Cup. Nevertheless, he won’t be the leader at Quail Hollow because of some very controversial reasons.
Why Cameron Smith cannot play in the 2022 Presidents Cup?
LIV is a professional golf tour which has divided the sport and the public opinion. This ‘new tour’ has taken away players from the PGA Tour by offering them incredible amounts of money. Because the LIV isfinanced by thePublic Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the PGA Tour simply cannot compete with the checks that have been offered to many golfers.
That’s why in the last few months, Cameron Smith became a target for LIV, but, he remained quiet on the issue. Everything was part of a plan. After his victory at the 2022 Open Championship, Cameron Smith wanted to earn a few more millions by competing in the final stretch of the 2022 FedEx Cup. When that series ended, LIV made it official: Cameron Smith was their newest addition.
The rules are clear. All LIV players have been banned from the PGA Tour and, as a consequence, they are not eligible to compete at the 2022 Presidents Cup. The International Team haveonly won once in 13 editions of the tournament and now their captain, Trevor Immelman, has lost his best possible player. Without Cameron Smith, it seems like an uphill battle against Team USA.
