“I just won the British Open and that’s what you’re asking about?” Smith told reporters. “That’s not so good. My team around me is worried about that. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”
Sky Sports also reported that Henrik Stenson will be sacked as Ryder Cup captain as he too will participate in the highly controversial breakaway series funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Critics say the new series amounts to blatant “sportswashing” by a nation seeking to improve its reputation in the face of its history of human rights abuses.
LIV players were banned from holding press conferences in St Andrews in the days leading up to this week’s British Open, while LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman was asked not to attend the ceremonial festivities. The Rebel series’ most prominent player, Phil Mickelson, was also asked not to attend the championship dinner.
British media reported that Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman are expected to join the LIV roster.
The new defectors join a roster of top players who have already signed up for the big money tour, including six-time major champion Mickelson, former world number one Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka and former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Stenson triumphed at the British Open in 2016 and won a further five times on the PGA Tour and 10 times on the European Tour.
When LIV was approached by Reuters, it declined to comment.
Smith drives back nine times to win
Cameron Smith carried out one of the biggest back-nine charges ever on a major championship, coming from four shots behind to win the 150th British Open on Sunday, while Rory McIlroy saw another major slip through his fingers.
Smith, winner of golf’s unofficial fifth major, The Players Championship, earlier this year, carded a sensational final round 8-under 64, including a spectacular run of five consecutive birdies from the turn to become the first Australian to win the Claret Jug. lifts since Greg. Normandy in 1993.
The 28-year-old Queenslander also became the first Australian man to claim one of golf’s four majors since Jason Day’s victory at the 2015 PGA Championship.
“All the names out there, every player who has been at the top of their game has won this championship,” said Smith, adding that he had no plans to get rid of his famous mullet haircut. “It’s pretty cool to be there.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I don’t think that will happen in a few weeks.”
Smith’s winning total of 20-under 268 was one better than playing partner American Cameron Young, who battled the latter for a 65 to finish second alone, while McIlroy, the gambling favorite who entered St Andrews, hesitated at the finish to settle for satisfaction. take third place.
McIlroy started the final lap in a tie with Viktor Hovland four strokes ahead of the pack and an end to his eight-year drought seemed in sight as he only put two shots ahead in first.
The four-time big winner’s conservative game plan seemed to work to perfection as he mapped a clear two-under 70.
But in the end, fortune favored the brave, as Smith’s go-for-broken approach ended up with him being crowned champion golfer of the year.
It was another brutal near miss for McIlroy, who now finishes in the top-10 in all four majors this season, adding a third-place finish at St Andrews to a second-place finish at the Masters and a fifth-place finish at the US. Open.
“I felt like I didn’t do much wrong today, but I didn’t do much right either,” McIlroy summed up. “It’s just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf.
“I did what I felt I had to do. At the end of the day it’s not life or death.
“It’s one that I feel I let slip, but there will be other opportunities.”
LOW SCORES
As McIlroy and Hovland set out under a cloudy sky, they no doubt noticed the low scores from early starters such as Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, who were in the clubhouse with seven-under 65s.
For Smith and Young, the message had been received: the Claret Jug was still within reach.
The world number two had been preaching patience all week and did just that when he reached the corner without a bogey, a single birdie good enough to hold him two shots ahead of a trio of challengers – Hovland, Smith and Young.
But while McIlroy was exercising patience, Smith mounted a devastating attack, firing five straight birdies to start the back nine, knocking McIlroy off the top of the standings.
“I sometimes think that being behind on certain golf courses and in certain situations might be a good thing,” Smith said. “I think it’s really easy to get defensive and keep hitting it to 60, 70 feet, and you can make pars all day, but you’re not going to make birdies.
“I think it was a good thing that I was definitely behind.
“I think my mentality would have been a little different when I came in, especially on that back nine, if I was ahead.”
One more birdie on the 18th and all Smith had to do was wait and see if McIlroy, who played the pair behind him, could be the last to force a playoff.
Smith wasn’t celebrating yet, knowing anything was possible after watching Young roll in a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th and briefly join him at 19-under, until he drank his short birdie to take the lead. Grab Jug.