The win is an important shot of confidence for 29-year-old Smith before defending his Open title at Royal Liverpool next week. The LIV victory ends a six-month win drought, an odd feeling for a player who won five times in 2022.
Keeping an unusually low media profile during the opening events of his divisive LIV Golf Invitational Series, Greg Norman is finally ready to do the talking. In a wide-ranging interview with Australian Golf Digest, The Shark explains how golf found itself in conflict, what it all means for countries like Australia, and why his second attempt at globalising the pro circuit will end differently to the first.
In the end, a tournament did eventually break out. After all the talk of politics, “sports washing”, human rights abuses and who might or might not be playing next time out, the golf took over – as it tends to do amid even the most controversial of controversies.
When it comes to team golf, don’t mess with Denmark. That was the competitive message emanating from GolfSixes, the European Tour’s latest innovative attempt to liven up the week-to-week routine that is 72 holes of strokeplay competition.
The Zurich Classic’s team format was universally praised, offering a fresh presentation during one of golf’s slow points of the season. Better yet, golf fans eager for the next iteration of progress from the sport won’t have to wait long.