Cameron Smith says Rory McIlroy tried to convince him to stay on PGA Tour instead of LIV Golf
Two days after losing to Cameron Smith at the 150th Open Championship, Rory McIlroy made a phone call he certainly didn’t want to make. He called Smith to congratulate him on winning the Claret Jug, and then talked to him about all the reasons he should stay on the PGA Tour.
Apparently Smith didn’t heed McIlroy’s advice, opting instead to sign a reported nine-figure deal with LIV Golf and make his LIV Boston debut shortly after the Tour Championship. Those two, along with PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler, have owned most of 2022. That trio combined to claim 11 wins worldwide, including half of those. big championship.
However, it is what happens off the field that often dominates the headlines. Smith recently opened up about what McIlroy told him on that phone call after that Open Championship.
“I’ve always respected Rory and I love what he says on the golf course,” Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He said, ‘Congratulations.’ Maybe there were a few little jabs in there. He was happy that I played well and it was a good tournament. Then we talked about the PGA Tour and LIV. There were a lot of things he wanted me to know before I made my decision I wouldn’t say he tried to talk to me about it in person, but he definitely wanted me to stay. again.”
There’s a good reason. At the time, Smith was the No. 2 in the world and the reigning Champion of the Players Championship and the Open Championship. His recap of the chat squares goes with what McIlroy had to say at the Tour Championship in August:
McIlroy said: “I want to congratulate him, but I also want – the people who are thinking one way or the other, to be honest, I don’t care if they leave or not. It won’t make a difference to me. But at least I want people making decisions that are well informed and basically know this is what’s coming. This is what you can leave behind.”
What’s coming up on the PGA Tour is a set of high-profile events with massive wallets — 12 tournaments with an average purse size of $20 million in 2023 — as well as the opportunity play at TGL, which is run by the company Tiger Woods and McIlroy own. TGL is basically televised golf in an arena where players will have the opportunity to earn money when combined with an event affiliated with the PGA Tour. This has not happened in the past.
Smith isn’t the biggest name LIV lands in 2022, but he’s probably its best player. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson all have more traction than the Australian, but you could argue that only Scheffler has had a better year than Smith this year, although he certainly hasn’t had a year. richer.
