Multiple Australian Open fields will make for enhanced excitement and a better spectacle, even if there are some logistics to take care of. By Steve Keipert
Adelaide will welcome a bevy of international stars in April after LIV Golf announced a multi-year commitment to bring its events to Australia, beginning in 2023.
PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman says homegrown stars like Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman will always be welcome at future Australian PGA Championships and Opens, regardless of whether major tours around the world continue to ban LIV golf recruits.
Greg Norman says several aspects of LIV caught the attention of Open Championship winner Cameron Smith, but one particularly excited the Australian world No.3.
LIV Golf’s launch, and its subsequent feud with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour evolved into the biggest story of the year not just in golf, but sport as a whole.
While playing on the PGA Tour, Cameron Smith earned $US3.6 million for his victory at the Players Championship in March, $2.5 million for winning the Open Championship in July and $1.476 million for his triumph at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.
LIV Golf’s fifth event of its inaugural series heads to Chicago this week to Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, a par 72 measuring 7,408 yards. Cameron Smith headlines the field in his second event after leaving the PGA Tour, while Dustin Johnson is coming off a win in his last LIV start.
In capturing the award, Scheffler earned the distinction of being the only player to have been selected as the PGA Tour Player of the Year, PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (in 2020) and Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year (2019).
Australian Golf Digest
