Smith calls for big LIV shift

Cam Smith hopes his bid for a second British Open triumph will soon be boosted by the LIV schedule including a links event in the build-up to the July major.

Having won the 2022 Open at St Andrews, former world No.2 Smith finished in a tie for 33rd at the 2023 event at Royal Liverpool and missed the cut this year at Royal Troon.

This year’s LIV schedule included an event at the Valderrama club in Andalucia, Spain the week before the Open, which the former world No.2 said didn’t help anyone’s cause.

British Open winner, Xander Schauffele, played in the Scottish Open before his triumph.

“It was really two polar opposites of golf,” Smith said comparing the conditions and the courses over those two weeks for LIV players.

“It was really hot (at Valderrama), the ball was going a long way up in altitude, and then getting on to links (at Royal Troon) where it’s quite cold and windy, it’s probably not the best prep.

“It’s definitely something that we spoke about. They (LIV) are well aware of that.

“I don’t know if it’ll happen next year, but definitely in the future it’s something that we want to do.”

Smith was confident that next year’s LIV schedule would better prepare him for the “major season”, which starts with the Masters in April and includes May’s US PGA (Quail Hollow), June’s US Open (Oakmont Country Club) and July’s British Open (Royal Portrush).

Only the opening four events of the 2025 LIV season have been confirmed, an Asian swing including in Adelaide in February, two months earlier than the April date it has lived in for the past two years, before shifting to Hong Kong and Singapore in March.

The event before those LIV players eligible for Augusta, including the seven Masters champions on the playing roster, remains unconfirmed.

“The schedule we got next year, we’re playing a little bit more before that first major,” he said.

“That was the change that was made for us players, and they’ve done a really good job of acknowledging that and making some changes.

“We’re here back in Australia a bit earlier next year (for LIV Adelaide in February), and a lot of time in Asia as well, so there’s a few big tournaments before the Masters and then going into major season.”

Smith has returned home to Brisbane for this week’s Queensland PGA as part of an upcoming schedule that includes the NSW Open, the Australian PGA and the Australian Open.