It seems {that a} ban by the PGA Tour will not be sufficient hold Cameron Smith away from The Players Championship later this week.
Smith, like all different all gamers who defected from the PGA Tour to affix the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, is banned from the tour’s occasions.
But so far as main tournaments go, Augusta National Golf Club officers introduced in December that golfers who certified for the Masters match primarily based on its earlier standards shall be eligible to play in April 2023. Meaning, a number of gamers who at present compete within the LIV Golf sequence have seemingly acquired an invite to the Masters.
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Cameron Smith of RIPPER GC appears to be like on through the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on Feb. 25, 2023 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Juan Luis Diaz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
But Smith, who lives close to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., teased that he should still attend this 12 months’s match.
“I’d love to get out there,” Smith mentioned by way of GOLF.com. “I don’t know how it would be received. But even getting out there, watching, walking around in the crowd might be pretty funny.”
If Smith does find yourself going to the match it might actually be seen as a slap within the face to the PGA and to the golfers who determined to stay on the tour.
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Smith does have some free time arising, as LIV Golf doesn’t have one other occasion till March 17.
But even when he exhibits as much as The Players Championship, Smith won’t be able to defend his 2022 title. The Australian will grow to be the primary participant to overlook a title protection at TPC Sawgrass for a motive aside from damage.
Cameron Smith of RIPPER GC performs a shot through the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 24, 2023 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Juan Luis Diaz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
He will seemingly must pay to park if he does arrive. Last September, TPC Sawgrass resolve to revoke Smith’s reserved parking spot at their clubhouse within the aftermath of his determination to affix the controversial circuit.
Before becoming a member of LIV, Smith had come-from-behind victory at The Open Championship to defeat Rory McIlroy in 2022.
Cameron Smith of RIPPER GC performs a shot through the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on Feb. 24, 2023 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Juan Luis Diaz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
But early on in his tenure with LIV, Smith has skilled a big quantity of success. His solely win to this point got here on Sept. 18 at an occasion in Chicago.
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Smith sits within the No. 6 spot within the LIV standings after the opening occasion of the 2023 tour in Mayakoba, Mexico.