Cameron Smith’s move to LIV Golf, as the PGA Tour’s reigning Players champion no less, was one of the most shocking developments in pro golf’s lengthy saga.
Fast-forward four years, and Smith may be looking to reverse the decision.
Ahead of a players-only meeting at this week’s LIV Golf New York event at Trump Bedminster, Smith and his LIV teammates sat down for a press conference.
When pressed about LIV Golf’s increasingly dire future, Smith admitted that should the upstart league disappear after this season, he’d be prepared “to go back to old times” and rejoin the PGA Tour.
Here’s what you need to know.
Cameron Smith says he’d attempt PGA Tour return if LIV goes under: ‘100%’
When Smith initially decided to depart the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf at the end of 2022, it was a surprise for several reasons.
Smith, who was 28 at the time, had just won his first major, beating Rory McIlroy on Sunday at St. Andrews to win the 2022 Open Championship. It was his sixth PGA Tour victory. His fifth win came earlier that season at the Tour’s flagship event, the Players Championship.
While he had some early success on LIV, winning once in 2022 and twice in 2023, he’s struggled with his game in recent years. His play at the majors has suffered, too.
Smith has missed the cut at eight of his last nine majors, with the only exception being a T7 at the 2026 PGA Championship.
This week’s event in New Jersey could be one of the last opportunities Smith ever has to end his LIV winless streak.
After Saudi Arabia’s PIF decided to pull all funding from LIV Golf earlier this year, the league’s leaders have been in a mad dash to entice new investors and secure its future.
Even if they are successful in keeping the league alive, LIV would look much different next year, with fewer events and likely much smaller purses. But there’s a chance the league does not make it to 2027 at all.
In his Tuesday press conference at Trump Bedminster, Smith said he was “a positive guy” when it comes to predicting LIV’s future, and so far he hasn’t tried seeking out a career alternative if LIV folds.
“I’m a positive guy, so I’ve made no effort to go seek anything else,” Smith said.
But he also admitted that LIV’s future, and his own, are “all up in the air.”
“I don’t really understand what is going to happen. I think it’s all up in the air. I know that the LIV team is working hard to get us to play next year and working hard for us. They do a lot of hard work behind the scenes,” Smith said on Tuesday.
Ultimately, he’s hoping that LIV’s leaders are successful at keeping the league alive for another year and said he would “hate to see it go away.”
“I want it to work, really, to be honest. It’s great fun out here. The team that we’ve got, I feel like we make each other better, better people and better golfers as well,” Smith explained. “Yeah, I’d hate to see it go away. We’ll see what happens.”
But when asked if the PGA Tour would be his backup plan if LIV Golf were to end after this season, Smith finally revealed it would be, both for him and “everyone” else.
“I mean, if it was the only option, I think that’s where everyone would want to be for sure, 100 percent,” Smith said. “It would go back to old times.”
Cam Smith on LIV Team Championship reports: ‘Disappointed’
The unfortunate reality for LIV Golf players, fans and employees is that the league might not even survive until the end of this season, let alone next year.
Multiple reports have claimed the season-ending LIV Team Championship, originally scheduled for late August in Michigan, is at risk of being canceled.
As for the Team Championship, Smith said that players have been “told to prepare as if it’s going ahead,” but he also betrayed a lack of confidence it will happen.
“We’ve been told to prepare as though it’s going ahead. So we’re expecting it to happen,” Smith said about the Team Championship. “I’m really unsure, but we had a great year there last year in Detroit, and we’re hoping we get back there. It’s a great golf course, a great venue, and the crowds really turned up as well. Yeah, would be disappointed if it wasn’t.”
He added that he hoped to learn more information during a player meeting scheduled for later Tuesday at Trump Bedminster.
“Like I said before, we’ve got a player meeting this afternoon. I’m sure we’ll get some more info. But at the moment we’re preparing to keep playing and keep the team alive,” Smith said.
That meeting did happen, with the LIV captains first meeting privately in a discussion led by Bryson DeChambeau, before they joined the other players to relay what had been discussed.
Afterward, most players declined to comment on the meeting. Richard Bland did speak to reporters but had no information to provide on the future of LIV’s Team Championship or the league itself.
“We’ve just got to wait and see on that,” Bland said.
