It’s all been going on Down Under for Cameron Smith after he returned to his homeland for the first time in three years – but it’s safe to say the World No 3 isn’t best pleased with the Official World Golf Rankings after storming to victory at the Australian PGA Championship.
The Aussie was in a jubilant mood following his fifth win of 2022, taking to a Brisbane bar to celebrate with plenty of booze, cheers and raucous signing with his fellow natives. Admitting he had a “sore head” afterwards, Smith was even hoisted on someone’s shoulders as he rewatched his winning putt again. As you do.
But despite the hometown hero capping off his return to Australia with a memorable win – and a memorable night out – Smith has now turned his attention back to LIV Golf’s ongoing world rankings debacle, shunning the system as “irrelevant” prior to teeing up at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.
“As a young professional, those points mean quite a bit,” Smith told local press. “I’m still third on the list somehow, but as time goes on I think those rankings become more and more irrelevant, especially with not getting world ranking points in those LIV events.”
So far, LIV has still not been afforded OWGR status due to the league falling short on several criteria. This has meant Greg Norman’s arsenal of defectors have continued to slump down the world rankings, with Smith falling one place despite having picked up two victories since switching from the PGA Tour.
“It is a bit of a shame,” The Open champion continued. “But I’ve kind of had to deal with that through the last three or four months. I feel like I’m playing some really solid golf, [so] yeah, it’s a bit of a pain in the bum.”
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As for any criticism, it seems Smith’s popularity couldn’t be higher in Australia despite his controversial move to LIV, with the 29-year-old insisting “everyone down here loves it.”
He said: “It’s all been positive down here, I haven’t copped too much [criticism]. I think the keyboard warriors are really the only ones to worry about, to be honest. Everyone down here loves it.”
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