Cameron Smith admits he had his fears about his huge move to LIV Golf, especially the shotgun start format, but feels he ultimately made the right decision to join the Saudi-backed outfit.
The Australian was a marquee signing for Greg Norman coming just after he pipped Rory McIlroy to win the Open Championship at St Andrews.
Smith, who reportedly banked well over $100 million from the Saudis to join LIV Golf, admitted that he felt some nerves about moving across, with the shotgun start a particular worry about how it would work.
However, although he revealed that it was a bit hectic getting all the players out on the course at the same time, he feels LIV Golf is certainly heading in the right direction.
“Probably one of the biggest things I was scared about was the shotgun start,” he told the Straight Down The Middle’ish podcast.
“It worked so good. We were off at the same time every day, everyone’s playing in the same conditions [and] sure it’s a bit of a s*** show before the round getting guys out to their tees and stuff but it’s only 10 minutes.”
And with the worry about leaving the PGA Tour over, he says the signs are looking good for the upcoming LIV Golf League with events already running smoother towards the end of last season.
“It was definitely a big decision, but I feel as though I definitely made the right decision,” he added.
“I’ve played five or six events out there and the way I’ve seen it progress over that short period of time, it’s going in the right direction. The fans love it. I think there’s a lot more for people to do out there. It’s a fun time. The way I would describe it is that it’s more like going to a sporting event than a golf tournament.”
The 29-year-old has also voiced his upset at missing the chance to become world number one as a consequence of him leaving the PGA Tour.
“I’ve tried to take it not that badly, to be honest,” he said. “I think when you rock up to a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there’s a world ranking or not.
“There’s generally seven or eight guys that are in that field that you know are going to put up a pretty good fight. For sure, it hurts. I feel as though I was really close to getting to No.1, and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off.”
Source: Golf Monthly
