There are reports, claims and counter claims, so where exactly does LIV Golf stand right now? And could "prominent Australians" provide financial salvation for the team-based tour?

Scott O'Neil has been a bundle of energy and the model of positivity in the face of what is a hugely difficult task trying to conjure up enough cash to plug the huge funding black hole being left by the Saudi PIF's withdrawal.

But it's clear there's an air of uncertainty and concern even about the rest of the season, due to the way the PIF structures its funding of the league in regular installments.

There were headlines when O'Neil couldn't guarantee all four remaining events of the season could be played, but to be fair to him how could he guarantee it when nobody really knows what the PIF is planning?

"I don't have a crystal ball, unfortunately," O'Neil told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) on Friday. "But I can tell you this: the PIF has been a really strong supporter; they have always been good on their word, and they have pledged publicly that they will support us through the season."

According to the Financial Times the PIF has pumped around $200m into LIV Golf since April, but had planned on $600m to finish off the season.

There's no reason right now to suggest those funds won't be released as promised, but it's understandable that plenty of people inside LIV, those talking to Front Offics Sports for instance, are concerned.

And getting to the end of the season is just the start of the battle really, as then a huge restructuring has to take place to produce a more streamlined and sustainable LIV Golf 2.0 that's attractive to investors.

And O'Neil has been doing the media rounds to again project his positive spin on things, claiming that there's plenty of interest from around the world - but with a focus recently on Australia.

O'Neil claims investors interested in entire $300m stake

“I know I shouldn’t be enjoying this moment, but I’m full of energy right now.," O'Neil told the New York Post.

"This is what I’m meant to be here for. Every investor call I get, I get more excited and more hyped. I get on player calls and they’re like, ‘Let’s go, team.’

O'Neil says he is chasing $300m of investment, and claims that there's interest in financing the entire league and also multiple investors interested in a lower level - with an idea of getting them from different areas around the world.

"Some of the private equity firms we're meeting with are interested in taking the whole $300 million" O'Neil told AAP.

"We have spoken to some professional sports team owners; they seem to be talking in the $25 million to $50 million range. And some combination of those two might happen as well.

"This is a business and a business plan that will reset with quite a bit of discipline, that will be sustainable and profitable business in three short years, so we're very excited about what we're building."

Why Cam Smith could help save LIV

O'Neil says the success of the LIV event in Adelaide is used in his pitches to potential investors.

"There is nothing I have seen like the fans in Australia at a LIV event, so it's a very, very special place and it plays a very prominent role in talking to investors," he added.

"In fact, because we play on five continents, our dream scenario is to have investment from each of the five continents."

And that includes Australia, with O'Neil adding: "We are very tapped in and wired in to the Australian business community and those who might be interested.

"Yes, we're having some ongoing dialogue with some prominent Australians."

Helping with these talks seems to be Cameron Smith, with the Ripper GC captain playing a prominant role in helping to try and bring in investors.

"He has been quite public and quite up-front about his support and the support of his team-mates for this next version of LIV; this LIV 2.0 version," O'Neil said of Smith.

"He is a force to be reckoned with on the tour, and on the road he's so respected by the players at LIV.

"He commands impact and influence on those around him and he has been a true champion for securing the investment."

There's no concrete leads or names of interested investors as yet, but one thing's for sure, if LIV Golf doesn't survive it won't be from a lack of effort from the CEO.

Cameron Smith managed to raise plenty of eyebrows with his recent comments about the subject of prize money in golf - specifically LIV Golf - but he managed to hit the nail on the head on a couple of current issues in the sport.

Smith usually doesn't say too much, he's quite an introverted character and a likeable individual who despite his now vast wealth just seemingly wants to get on with his golf and keep himself to himself.

But in just a few short comments to The Mirror he summed up perfectly why the huge prize money sums in LIV Golf were "obviously not working" and how the cash rewards would have to be reduced as the team-based tour seeks new financial backing.

The Australian also spoke about how prize money in the sport needed to be reduced across the board - again not an unreasonable suggestion - but one that attracted a few sharp responses. But why?

Why did Cam Smith's comments raise eyebrows?

Money in golf seems to be a thorny issue - let's face it it's the main driving factor in the sport yet most players don't want to admit that.

And why shouldn't it? Everyone who works for a living wants to be rewarded and yes, professional sportspeople want to chase titles and legacies but ultimately they also want to build their bank balances.

And when LIV Golf burst onto the scene the Saudi PIF unloaded billions to attract some of the sport's biggest names - yes the 'grow the game' mantra was there and team golf was a factor, but if we're all being honest those vast sums of cash were the deal breakers.

Smith himself admitted his signing fee of a reported $140m was too good to turn down - and he's since pocketed a further $52m in prize money.

Smith now admits that the LIV money is "pretty far-fetched, realistically" and that it's "obviously not working" in a clear sign that whatever form LIV Golf takes next year, Scott O'Neil will have to cut the financial rewards on offer.

"This has been an awesome four or five years for us golfers," said Smith, but added "it's time for everything to come back to the way it was."

That's a line picked out by many who haven't been too enamoured by the way money has exploded in golf over the last few years.

Many golf fans don't care about the money on offer, most feel there's too much in terms of prize money these days and almost all are likely sick of it being talked about so often.

Smith has called it as he sees it though, and he's right. Those unsustainable riches that have been on offer in recent years will not be the same come next year.

Cam Smith points out LIV's big problem, but will he stay?

Asked if vastly reduced prize money would see Smith leave, the former Open champion replied: "I don't think so."

Not exactly unequivocal, but if we've learned anything over these last few years it's that things can change quickly - and there's so much uncertainty around LIV right now.

What Smith illustrates perfectly is how LIV's biggest strength has now become its biggest problem. The vast prize pots just won't be there, the eight and nine-figure signing fees certainly won't so what will keep the big names around?

Most reports suggest a 10-event schedule for LIV is most likely in 2027, with five 'team Majors' and five other events. Taking golf around the globe with huge tournaments such as Australia and South Africa is obviously a good thing - but the financial rewards still have to be there.

Players are taking up the challenge by bringing in their own contacts for meetings as potential investors, and Smith believes that the big selling point, from both a business point of view and for viewers, is the team aspect.

LIV more recently has leaned into geographical based teams, with South African Southern Guards and his own Australian Ripper GC proving popular in their home events.

Smith says that type of system needs to be the driving force behind a new LIV Golf 2.0 from next year onwards.

"I feel as though we really have to lean into the team stuff," said Smith. "It works in Australia and South Africa, even last week in Korea and Asia, they love it. I would love to see that become more than what it is now."

Some many have been turned off by Smith's comments, but he's bang on the money (pun intended) when it comes to how the vast fortunes that have been thrown at players the last couple of years just couldn't continue.

Cameron Smith made a Sunday charge at the PGA Championship to push the leaders close, but he just fell short at the final hurdle.

The Australian golfer shot 68 on Sunday at Aronimink to finish on four-under for the tournament. He was as low as five-under for much of the back nine, though, before a bogey on 17 cost him dearly.

It looked as though birdies on the second, the fourth, and the ninth would set Smith up for a real shot at the championship. But, it wasn't to be in the end.

Still, it's a vast improvement from the 32-year-old, who has found the Majors a little more difficult over the last three years.

Having won The Open in 2022, Smith shocked the golfing world by leaving the PGA Tour and joining the LIV Golf league.

He arrived in Philadelphia this week off the back of six consecutive missed cuts in Majors, which makes his performance this week even more impressive.

Speaking to the media after his final round at Aronimink on Sunday, Smith discussed how his confidence levels have fluctuated, and referenced a coaching change as a potential catalyst for success.

He said: "It feels great to play nice. You don't work hard to play crap. The last couple of years have been frustrating. I feel like I've been putting in the work and not really getting anything out of it.

"I made a swing coach switch a couple of weeks ago to Claude [Harmon III], and we've managed to clean up a few things that were perhaps a little bit off. I feel like I've got a lot more confidence in my swing.

"Even out there today, under the pressure I felt like I was able to trust it already. So lots of positive signs."

Smith went into more detail on that difficult decision to part with his former coach, Grant Field, and outlined just how tough it was to go in separate ways.

"It was a hard call to make to my coach. I had been seeing Grant since I was 9 years old. So I'd been with him for 23 years," Smith said. "It was probably one of the most difficult phone calls I've ever had to make."

He added: "It's still kind of lingering, but I feel like I've made the right call. I can see it in my golf and my strike of the ball and seeing some different shots. It's been nice."

Claude Harmon III, the son of the legendary Butch Harmon, previously worked with Brooks Koepka and currently also works with Dustin Johnson.

It's been a tough year for Cameron Smith but it could have a happy ending after he not only made his first cut but is also right up there in contention at the Australian Open.

Smith was the only man to miss the cut at all four Majors in 2025 and also failed to make the weekend at the PIF Saudi International - there was no official cut at the shortened Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but if there was Smith would've missed that as well.

The 32-year-old was clearly furstrated when missing the cut again at last week's Australian PGA, which meant he'd gone a year since surviving a cut line, at last year's Australian Open.

And that same event has seen a welcome return to form for Smith, who shot 65 at Royal Melbourne on Friday to finish on seven under - just two shots behind the leaders.

With Adam Scott also on seven under, and Min Woo Lee a shot better off in T3, the big Australian home hopes could give what's set to be a bumper crowd something to really cheer on over the weekend.

For Smith though, who has seen his form dip since joining LIV Golf, he's just happy to make a cut after such a long time struggling for his best golf.

"Really stoked," Smith said after his flawless 65 - containing six birdies and no dropped shots.

"It’s been a while, so I’m happy I’m up there. It was nothing special. I don’t think it was anything different to what I’ve been doing.

"It’s just a few putts went in and the momentum was up and felt really good."

Smith has never won his national championship - with his closest call coming with a playoff defeat to Jordan Spieth back in 2016.

There's been no Australian winner in the last three runnings, but three big hitters are lining up for a challenge - as Smith will play alongside former Masters champion Adam Scott on Saturday.

Scott shot 66 to sit on seven under alongside Smith, with the veteran looking for his second Australian Open title after lifting the trophy in 2009 - he's finished as runner-up three times since.

Min Woo Lee is the closest challenger to leaders Dan Rodrigues and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, sitting just a shot behind after matching Smith's 65 - carding four birdies and an eagle.

And Lee was very much looking forward to laying a challenge down for a first Australian Open title - to complete the set after winning the Australian PGA in 2013.

"It’s going to be unbelievable," said Lee. "I mean, if I keep playing like this, I’ll be pretty happy. Very solid golf, so it’s going to be fun.

"Hopefully make some birdies and not too many mistakes mate."

The bumper crowd following Rory McIlroy at Royal Melbourne got their money's worth as he produced a box office end to the round to ensure he made the cut at the Australian Open.

Fans, and sponsors, will be delighted that tournament headliner McIlroy will be around at the weekend - but it didn't look that way after a bogey on the 14th left him outside the cut mark.

Stuck under a huge bush on 14, McIlroy attempted a Seve-esque escape while stooping under the foliage, but produced a rare air shot, with a brisk swipe of his iron whipping above the ball and hitting nothing but thin air.

That left McIlroy red faced and at one over for the tournament - staring down the barrel of a missed cut - but he rolled his sleeves up and produced some of his very best golf with three birdies in the closing four holes.

At two under he's still seven shots off leaders Dan Rodrigues and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, but he'll still be a huge draw on Saturday and teeing off a couple of hours before home hopes Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith is almost the perfect scenario for tournament organisers.

And much more of the golf he showed in the final four holes - notably almost driving the par-four 15th green and setting up an eagle chance with a stunning iron out of the rough on 17 - will not only thrill the huge expected crowds but also give the world number two a chance to challenge.

“I certainly haven’t had my best stuff over the last couple of days, but it was nice to finish the way that I did," said McIlroy, who last played the Australian Open back in 2014.

“It wasn’t looking great after the bogey on 14, but overall, a great finish, delighted to be here for the weekend."

After all that, McIlroy finished with a three-under round of 68 after 36 holes of pure golfing theatre, as his first-round 72 also had a bit of everything with five birdies and six bogeys.

The Grand Slam champion still feels that he's not too far behind the leaders to launch a challenge for a second Australian Open title at the weekend.

“Seven isn’t too far back. I feel like if I can go out tomorrow morning and shoot a good one, I can get myself right back into the tournament."

'Not one of my finer moments' - McIlroy on air shot

McIlroy could only smile as he descrived his air shot on 14.

“I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a fresh air," said McIlroy. "Not one of my finer moments but nice to bounce back after that and play like I did the last few holes.

“I felt like I could get in there really low, like Seve used to, flick a four iron and just get back into play and on the way down caught a branch and obviously just completely went over the ball."

McIlroy was again playing alongside Australian crowd favourites Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee - and both are right there in contention heading into the weekend.

Lee shot a brilliant 65 to sit on eight under, just a shot behind the leading pair, while Scott is just a stroke further back on seven under after carding a 66 in his second round.

Scott will be popular again on Saturday as he'll play alongside Cameron Smith, who made his first cut of the year to join the veteran in a tie for fourth.

A clearly frustrated and "confused" Cameron Smith missed his seventh cut in a row at the Australian PGA Championship and admitted he's struggling to find his way back to his best.

The Australian is the only man to miss the cut in all four Majors in 2025, and with three following missed cuts he's struggling to deal with his lack of form.

A former World No.2 and 2022 Open champion, Smith's form has nosedived since joining LIV Golf, and he's admitted now he's facing some inner demons as he tries to work out where he's going wrong.

A Brisbane native, Smith was desperate to find some form at the Australian PGA, but shot 75 on Friday at Royal Queensland Golf Club to finish way outside the cut mark.

Smith, famously a laid back, happy-go-lucky type of golfer, is clearly feeling the strain, and admitted as much after finishing up his second round.

"It was s***," Smith said. "I don't know, I just don't know. I was so confused.

"I was feeling good, really confident and just couldn't get anything going. It was weird. It can definitely get in your head, I think it is in my head."

Smith will head to next week's Australian Open still searching to find something in his game to build on, and while previously he'd switch off from golf off the course, he's now becoming obsessed with trying to solve the puzzle.

"I don't think about golf often, but in the last couple of months I've thought about it a lot and I want to get back to where I was," Smith admitted.

"I do know what the answer is; it's just to keep working hard and try to be patient."

Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee fared much better, shooting 66 to sit in T5 just two shots off leader Kobori Kazuma, and he had words of encouragement for playing partner Smith.

"That's golf. It can be tough and he's one of the best players out here and there is pressure," Lee said of Smith.

"Next week he's going to be good. It's a bit of fire in his belly, this weekend. Head down, grind and show something next week."

The trio of Wenyi Deng, Brett Rankin and Anthony Quayle sit in a tie for second - Quayle this week has Tiger Woods' legendary caddie Steve Williams on the bag and it's clearly doing the trick.

Cameron Smith has welcomed the decision to split the men's and women's Austrlian Open tournaments - saying it will help restore the men's event to its former glory.

The men's and women's Australian Opens had been held together at the same courses for the last three years, but the decision has now been taken to split them up again.

Smith was one of the critics against both events being held concurrently, saying that it diminished both events - with course set-up a major problem.

Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland announced the change in structure, saying: "We believe this is the right time and we are confident that both national open championships will stand on their own two feet and prosper in their own right.”

And that decision has been welcomed by former Open champion Smith, who believes that separating the events will help to elevate them both.

Speaking in Adelaide ahead of the LIV Golf League event, Smith says that he feels the men's event will attract a stronger field with it now being a standalone tournament.

“Not only do we want to come down and play and obviously support our event, I think it lends itself to have a stronger field, having more guys come down here and play the Australian Open and let it be the event that it once was," Smith said.

Smith's Ripper GC teammate and fellow Australian Lucas Herbert shares the same sentiments about his national open again standing by itself.

The last jointly-held Australian Open was staged in November at Kingston Heath and Victoria clubs on Melbourne's sandbelt - where holding both men's and women's events together caused problems with setting up the course.

“We would have loved to have seen an Australian Open venue play a little differently from what it was and I think we were a little handcuffed, as well, from having the women play with us,” Herbert said.

“The ideal course set-up for them and the ideal course set-up for us is a little different.

“I don’t think you should set up the courses the same way because it’s not fair to either gender - it’s a great move that we’re now splitting the Australian Opens.”

After a disastrous Australian Open back nine when being put on the clock, Cameron Smith appeared to lay the blame on his protege Elvis Smylie for his group's slow play warning.

Smith made a flying start to his second round at Kingston Heath with three birdies and an eagle in his opening six holes, but his round collapsed on the back nine.

The former Open champion gave all of those five shots back as he went from second to T16 by the time he'd finished - and he blamed some bad decisions under the pressure of being put on the clock for slow play.

And although he did not agree with his group being warned for falling behind, he seemed to lay the blame on young countryman Smylie - who Smith was playing alongside last week when they were also put on the clock.

“I don’t get put on the clock too often. I feel like we do a pretty good job. There is a common denominator there that’s a little bit slower,” Smith said.

“It’s not something I like because I feel like I’m a pretty fast paced player as it is, so being put on the clock is just another thing. I feel like I did my best to play as quick as I can, and I feel like I’m running around.

“I just made a couple of poor choices. We got on the clock there and it didn’t seem like we were playing that slow, and it felt like we were just rushing."

To make matters worse, while Smith was crumbling with three bogeys and a double, Smylie went on to card a stunning 64 in his second round to sit on nine under - five shots off the lead.

Smith was asked if he would speak to Smylie, but said “it’s not my job to” as he looked to try and erase the round from his memory.

“I think there’s better ways to go about that stuff," Smith added. "But that’s another topic."

Smylie is the country's hottest young golf prospect after the 22-year-old won the Australian PGA Championship last week ahead of Smith, who was paired with the youngster.

The duo were put on the clock in Brisbane and Smith obviously believes the young left-hander, who has stayed with the LIV Golf star when receiving a scholarship as a junior, is the one with the pace of play issue.

For Smylie, who classes Smith as his mentor, he believes it was a problem with the entire group - which also included Frenchman Victor Perez.

“It’s a group thing, it’s not an individual,” said Smylie. “I feel like I do a very good job whenever I am in the position when I have to keep up with the pace of play.

“I did a really good job of just focusing on my own game, especially when we were falling a little bit behind, pace wise.

"I was just trying to do my best of walking to the ball and making sure I did my routine, process, and go as soon as I was there to keep the pace up. But when you are put on the clock, you definitely feel a lot more anxious.”

Smith's Ripper GC teammate Lucas Herbert holds a nice four-shot lead at the halfway point of the Australian Open.

Cameron Smith has taken aim at "disappointing" course conditions for this week's Australian Open, strongly rejecting the idea that heavy rain is the primary reason behind soft and slow layouts.

Kingston Heath Golf Club and Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne are well-known as two of the country's best courses and usually play extremely firm and fast, but - according to the Ripper GC captain - they have been set up completely differently this time around.

The 31-year-old has played several practice rounds on the Melbourne Sandbelt since turning out another close call at the Australian PGA Championship last week, even competing alongside former Prime Minister Scot Morrison at the pro-am on Wednesday.

But, in his pre-tournament press conference, Smith admitted his surprise and disappointment at the unusual characteristics on display at the two courses which will be used this week.

He said: “It seems there's been been lot of water and it’s not exactly what I was expecting. The course(s) are in great condition but playing so much different to how they’re designed and how they’re meant to be played, which is pretty disappointing.

"I had been keeping an eye on the weather here and I was really excited last week – to play a really firm and fast Sandbelt.

“It’s something that my (Ripper GC) teammates and I spoke about this year. We love coming down here and playing these events because the golf courses (are firm and fast) and it’s just not going to play like that. It’s going to play more like an American golf course, kind of target golf.”

The Brisbane-born player then shared some of his experiences of competing in south-east Australia at this time of the year, highlighting just how different it can be to a typical American layout.

Smith said: “I’ve played down here at Kingston Heath in (the 2013) Aussie Masters, and I’ve told this story a lot actually, where I was allowing 25-30 metres of run out with a pitching wedge, which is a lot.

"Usually, around the world, you’re trying to take spin off, make sure it doesn’t spin back too much. I think when you get a place like this, where it’s meant to play like that, you have to create spin and create shots to get close to pins, which is what everyone really loves.”

Over the past several days, Melbourne has seen heavy rain a couple of times - on Sunday and on Wednesday - causing the pro-am to initially be delayed 90 minutes before ultimately leading to its cancellation later in the afternoon.

Otherwise, Saturday's temperature reportedly reached 36C in the southern end of New South Wales as the Australian late-Spring leads into early Summer.

But when the recent bad weather - which has affected other parts of the country and caused the Australian PGA Championship to lose a round - was put to Smith as a possible reason for the soft and slow conditions on display, the 2023 Open Championship winner was not willing to accept that.

He said: “The weather down here the last couple of weeks has been pretty good, I know they got some rain over the weekend and again this morning, but I’ve played down here in rain before and it’s still been like that the next day.

“So, I think that’s a bulls*** excuse, to be honest. I think it’s been prepared like this for a reason and it’s now how these golf courses are meant to be played.”

Smith will open up his latest attempt to land a first Australian Open title alongside last week's winner, Elvis Smylie and Frenchman Victor Perez during rounds one and two. The group will play Victoria GC first before heading over to Kingston Heath for what they hope will be the next three days.

Deals season is upon us so be sure to check out our early picks for the best Black Friday golf deals as selected by our team of experts.

Young left-hander Elvis Smylie won his first DP World Tour title courtesy of a two-stroke victory over Cameron Smith at the BMW Australian PGA Championship on Sunday.

Smylie - who was the World No.736 before play began on Thursday - carded a bogey-free final-round 67 (four-under) to end on 14-under and outlast not only the former Open champion but also his Ripper GC teammate, Marc Leishman in the opening event of the new DP World Tour season.

Although the tournament was reduced to 54 holes after extreme downpours in Brisbane, the 22-year-old triumphed in wire-to-wire fashion and topped an all-Australian top-five which also included Anthony Quayle (T3) after a stunning 63 and David Micheluzzi.

Smylie's victory was all the more extraordinary due to having been mentored via the three-time Australian PGA Championship winner back in 2019 via the the Cameron Smith Scholarship, which offers two emerging talents the opportunity to join Smith at his Florida home for a week of practice, training, and living like a tour professional.

The son of four-time grand slam doubles champion Liz Smylie only won his first pro title at the Bowra & O'Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia last month, but he continued that sparkling run on an even bigger stage - consequently earning a full two-year exemption with the Wentworth-based circuit.

Speaking immediately after his round - which featured four birdies and a number of vital par saves coming down the stretch - Smylie said: "It's a dream come true. I just said to Matt (Clayton, caddie) that I won't forget this day, you know, playing with Cam and Leish there.

"I looked up to these guys since I was a kid and just being in their presence and to compete against them for the title, I've learnt so much and just so grateful and so honoured right now.

"My short game was great, I definitely saved myself in that department. I was pretty average off the tee, but golf is a game of imperfection and today that was a sign of that.

"I just told myself to find a way of getting it around and doing my best, executing every shot as well as I can and my short game was great, so I gave that the full credit that it deserves.

"My mum and dad have been with me every step of the way. I saw my mum in the corner there, tearing up before I holed that last putt so everyone who has been on this journey with me they know how hard I've worked to be here and hopefully this is just the start of good things to come."

Despite the significant gap in experience between the overnight co-leaders, Smylie did not appear affected by the potential size of his task as the pair recorded first-hole birdies to kick things off on Sunday.

Smith responded to Smylie's birdie at the second with one of his own at the third, but while the 22-year-old was wonderfully consistent through the front nine, the 31-year-old LIV golfer was struggling with his putter and three-putted at the fourth for bogey to drop behind.

Birdie for Smith on five was quickly followed by another bogey one hole later, and Smylie's advantage became two at the sixth thanks to his latest excellent putt.

The left-hander went on to reach 14-under at the seventh via his fourth and final birdie on Sunday, with Smylie eventually making the turn three ahead as Smith dropped a shot at the ninth.

That gap was somehow maintained until the 17th via a clinic of clutch putting by the leader, but Smith piled the pressure on after chipping in off the back of the green at Royal Queensland's designated 'party hole.'

And Smylie's dream day almost turned into a nightmare at the 54th hole after his tee shot ended just behind a tree. Yet, even after his second landed in a greenside bunker, the Gold Coast native was able to create one last moment of magic by dropping his third to close range and tapping home for a memorable week.

The new DP World Tour season moves on to the ISPS Handa Australian Open at Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne in a few days' time.

The 2024/24 DP World Tour season begins less than a week after the previous one ended.

The DP World Tour Championship in Dubai brought the curtain down on a season that offered record prize money as Rory McIlroy wrapped up both the tournament title and the Race to Dubai.

It began last November with the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane, and that’s where the new season begins too.

The tournament will mark the first of a minimum of 42 events between now and 16 November 2025, when the DP World Tour Championship will once again bring the season to an end.

This time around, an overall prize fund of $153m will be available. Like the 2023/24 season, it will also be separated into three distinct stages – the Global Swings, the Back 9 and the DP World Tour Play-Offs.

The Global Swings phase is by far the longest, running between now and mid-August. Like last season, it will be separated into five different swings beginning with the Opening Swing, which runs until the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, which ends on 22 December.

To get things started, the BMW Australian PGA Championship will see players compete for a purse of AUD $2m (approximately USD $1.3m). The winner will receive AUD $340,000, while the runner-up will earn AUD $220,000.

Below is the prize money payout for the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

BMW Australian PGA Championship Prize Money Payout

Who Are The Star Names In The BMW Australian PGA Championship?

The headliner is undoubtedly LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith. The 2022 Open champion has won this event three times, most recently two years ago, but it was a different story last year, when he was almost in tears after missing the cut in his homeland by nine shots. He will be determined to make amends this year.

Another local player with a stellar reputation in the professional game is PGA Tour pro Min Woo Lee. He is the defending champion having beaten Rikuya Hoshino by three shots a year ago.

The pair are far from the only high-profile Australians teeing it up. Former World No.1 Jason Day is also in the field, along with Smith’s Ripper GC teammate Marc Leishman. Another member of the team, Lucas Herbert, also plays. Geoff Ogilvy, who won the title in 2008, appears too.

Other big names in the field include three-time DP World Tour winner Victor Perez, PGA Tour pro Harry Higgs, and rising star Aldrich Potgieter. Englishman Jordan Smith plays as well, less than a week after the disappointment of missing out on one of 10 PGA Tour cards by finishing just one place beneath the cut-off in the Race to Dubai standings.

Cameron Smith has joined Jon Rahm in calling for LIV Golf to add a links event to its calendar to aid preparation for The Open.

LIV Golf players were unable to get the necessary links preparation for Royal Troon this year due to the Valderrama event taking place the week before, with the iconic treelined Spanish venue offering up a contrasting test to the much colder, windier and firmer conditions on show at Royal Troon.

Jon Rahm was the only LIV player to finish inside the top-10 in Scotland, while no LIV golfers were in the top-10 at the 2023 Open.

“It was really two polar opposites of golf,” Cameron Smith told news.com.au's Marco Monteverde on the differences between LIV Golf Valderrama and the following week's Open Championship.

“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," Smith, who missed the cut at Royal Troon, continued.

“It’s definitely something that we spoke about. They [LIV Golf] 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's words echo those of Jon Rahm, who told Golf Digest's Evin Priest in July that he is "pushing" for a links event to be added to the LIV Golf schedule.

“I would hope so; I'm pushing for it. There's so much that goes into adjusting to links golf; getting used to the greens and the ball reacting on the ground. I didn’t think about it until after [Troon], but it's undeniable how much it helps to play a links golf course the week before the Open," the Spaniard said.

“Obviously, LIV management have contracts in place with some venues and plans in the future. It's not as easy as it sounds to just say, ‘Well, let's do this.’ [But] it'd be something I would like to talk to other players about because that way, there’s strength in numbers if five, six or 10 solid players [all agree]. I think a lot of people might agree with it.”

Every Open champion since Shane Lowry in 2019 has played in the Scottish Open the week before their Claret Jug triumph, although Lowry did tee it up in the Irish Open at Lahinch two weeks before his victory.

Francesco Molinari (2018) and Jordan Spieth (2017) did not play in the Scottish Open either, but they did have a free week before The Open to get links golf practice in, something that this year's LIV Golf schedule did not allow.

Smith is reportedly 'confident' that the 2025 LIV Golf League schedule will help him prepare for the Majors better - albeit it's not yet known if a links event will be added.

“The schedule we got next year, we’re playing a little bit more before that first Major [The Masters, April],” 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 [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 was speaking to the media ahead of a busy stretch Down Under. He's in his home city of Brisbane this week ahead of the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club before teeing it up in the the New South Wales Open at Murray Downs in two weeks' time.

He'll then turn his attention to the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland GC between November 21-24, an event he has won three times, ahead of the Australian Open at Kingston Heath and The Victoria Golf Club between November 28 and December 1 to round out his year.

Former Open champion Cameron Smith says the move he made to LIV Golf was the “best decision” of his life and one that has made him a “much happier person.”

The Australian golfer, who was speaking to the Herald Sun, is the captain of Ripper GC who won LIV Golf’s Team Championship for the first time at the season-finale in September.

He was the World No.2 when he left the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed circuit a little over two years ago, and it was a move that caused shockwaves at the top of the men's game.

The 2022 Open champion was reported to have received $100 million for signing with LIV Golf, and his bank balance has been growing ever since with a further $40 million coming in with on-course earnings.

“It was the best decision of my life,” Smith told Herald Sun of leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf.

“Not only from where the tour is going and where it will end up but also from a life standpoint as well. The extra time I get to spend in Australia compared to what I used to means a lot. I feel like I am a much happier person now compared to where I was before.”

Smith won six times on the PGA Tour before joining LIV Golf, and he was regarded as one of the best putters in the game.

In 2022, as well as lifting the Claret Jug at St Andrews, he won the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Players Championship.

The Aussie is now ranked outside the world’s top 100, although this slip is largely down to the fact that world ranking points are not awarded in LIV Golf events.

Judging by his performances in the Majors – he has three top-10 finishes in the last two seasons in the ‘Big 4’ – Smith is clearly still one of the best players in the world.

And he’ll be hoping to demonstrate just how good a player he is when he makes a return to his homeland to play in four non-LIV Golf tournaments between now and the end of the year.

The 31-year-old from Brisbane will be playing the Queensland PGA (31 October), New South Wales Open (14 November), BMW Australian PGA (21 November) and Australian Open (28 November).

Smith wasn’t the only one to insist he prefers life post-PGA Tour, with his Ripper GC teammate Lucas Herbert claiming similar.

“I played so much more in 2023, but it's just a perfect schedule now,” Herbert said.

“You get your time to get away from the game and get your development blocks to be able to get better, not just from a perspective of hitting balls for three or four days and then go to an event, you can actually really work on your game and elevate your skill set rather than just tune it up.

“So just the knowledge I've been able to zap from my teammates at various stages throughout the year has been awesome, and my game has massively benefited from that.”

Herbert added that it was beneficial that travel and accommodation is taken care of with LIV. “And not on our dollar, which is nice,” he said.

LIV Golf's Cameron Smith has committed to play in the Australian Open later this year - marking his fifth home event of 2024.

The man from Brisbane, Queensland has already teed it up at LIV Golf Adelaide - helping his Ripper GC team to a thrilling playoff success on home soil - and is currently in the field for four more Australian tournaments before Christmas.

Firstly, between October 31 and November 3, Smith will play the Queensland PGA Championship - the fifth event on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia calendar. He will then move on to the New South Wales Open at Murray Downs (Nov 14-17) before switching his attention to DP World Tour competitions thereafter.

The Australian PGA Championship is first up at Royal Queensland GC between November 21-24, and the Australian Open takes place between November 28 and December 1. The final chapter of Smith's latest Australian odyssey will see him attempt to win the Stonehaven Cup for the first time at his 12th attempt.

Twice has the 31-year-old come up painfully short in the past - the most brutal of which arrived when he lost to Jordan Spieth in a playoff at the 2016 championship. The very next year, a week before landing the first of three Australian PGA Championships, Smith ended fourth at his national open.

Speaking to ABC News about the subject, Smith said: "I don't know if it's been a difficult tournament for me but there's been a couple of hard pills to swallow in the past.

"I've been close a couple of times, lost in a play-off, so there's definitely some motivation there to win it and get that trophy.

"It's one that I've always wanted to win, one that's always been on my radar and I feel like I've prepped for a lot and I just haven't been able to do it yet."

Ripper GC's captain will be joined by a host of high-profile names at the Australian Open, including fellow Australians Min Woo Lee, Jason Day, Cam Davis, and Hannah Green - the leading Aussie woman at the dual-gender tournament. Defending champion and LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann has also committed to the Australian Open.

Hoping to peak at exactly the right time as he hunts that elusive national open crown, Smith explained his busier Australian summer schedule.

He said: "I've just got some extra time, and I feel like last year I had a lot of time off and got to do some really cool things in Australia that I haven't been able to do," the 31-year-old said.

"I really wanted to be prepped for the last couple of events, they're obviously smaller tournaments but I think it's good to give back to Australian golf wherever I can.

"I had some spare time so rather than sitting on the lounge, actually doing some work and prepping for the big ones — not only at the end of year but leading into next year — it just made a little bit of sense for me to do that."

Cameron Smith Australian Summer Schedule

When Cameron Smith signed for LIV Golf in August 2022 it was one of the biggest statements the start-up had made to that point.

After all, the announcement came barely a month after the Australian had seen off the challenges of Cameron Young and crowd favorite Rory McIlroy to win the 150th Open at St Andrews, while earlier in the season he had won the PGA Tour’s flagship event The Players Championship and finished T3 at the Masters.

At the time, Smith was also ranked second in the world and one of the hottest properties in the game, so his move justifiably drummed home the point that LIV Golf meant business.

Smith has picked up three wins on the circuit since that move, reaffirming his reputation as one of the best golfers of his generation, even if his world ranking no longer reflects that, with the circuit ineligible for the points.

Despite his generally fine form since making the leap Smith feels he still has plenty to prove. In an exclusive interview with Golf Monthly, he revealed that collecting more Major titles is one of his big ambitions.

He said: “I want to prove that I'm still a great player and that I can win all the big tournaments and the Majors.”

So far, two players have won Majors since joining LIV Golf – Brooks Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship and Bryson DeChambeau at this year’s US Open, and that’s a trend he hopes will continue.

“It was nice to see Brooks take one for the team at last year's PGA and get that first Major for a LIV player. Bryson continued that as well,” he said. “Hopefully we can get into a routine here where we can all knock off a few more Majors in the future.”

Thanks to Smith’s Open win, the 31-year-old is eligible for the event until he turns 60, while he has exemptions into the other three Majors for the next three years, and he has his eye on making some of those chances count to rubber-stamp his status as one of the game's top players.

He added: “I’ve got many chances now to prove that I’m still a top-level player and that I’m excited for the opportunities ahead of me.”

Smith is particularly confident of adding a Masters title to his Open win. As well as his performance in 2022 at Augusta National, he has four other top-10 finishes at the Major, including T6 this year, and he explained those close calls have giving him confidence he can get over the line.

“Being that close a number of times is encouraging,” he said. “Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to get one of those.

“I think a lot of players feel the desire to win the Majors, I think the competition is strong. Once you’ve had a sniff at it once, you really want it again. I think if I could get a second Major, it would be Augusta. I just love that place so much.”

Still, Smith isn’t fussy, and admitted that he would gladly take victory in any of the four showpiece events. He said: “To be honest with you, they’re all such great events and they have amazing history, so I would take any one of them.”

Smith's next appearance will seen him lead Ripper GC in the LIV Golf Team Championship, which begins on 20 September at Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas.

2022 Open champion Cameron Smith has committed to playing the New South Wales Open Golf Championship in his home country of Australia later this year.

The event - which offers up an $800,000-Australian Dollar ($542,184 US) total prize purse - will be headlined by the LIV golfer between 14-17 November and takes place at Murray Downs Golf and Country Club, right on the New South Wales-Victoria state border.

The course itself is reportedly one of the country's best inland layouts and features in the top-100 best golf courses in Australia due to its challenging setup and stunning scenery.

Normally costing $60 to play 18 holes, Murray Downs will welcome some of Australia's best golfers later this year - including the man who has six PGA Tour and three LIV Golf titles. 31-year-old Smith can also count himself as a three-time Australian PGA Championship winner.

Commenting on his decision to play the NSW Open for the first time, Smith said: “I love supporting Australian golf and when the opportunity arises to play, I want to be there. I try to get back home as much as I can.

“The NSW Open is growing into a major event and I’m excited to be able to play in the tournament this year, which will be part of a great summer of Australian golf.

“It’s fantastic it is being played in a regional area and I can’t wait to see how many fans are at Murray Downs.”

Meanwhile, Graeme Phillipson - chief operating officer at Golf NSW - stated that Smith's appearance will be "a massive boost" for the event which has been operating since 1931 and can count Ian Baker-Finch, Peter Thomson, and LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman among its former champions. Norman won it four times throughout his career.

Phillipson said: “His presence will undoubtedly elevate the level of competition and create an incredible atmosphere for all attendees. We were anticipating large crowds this year, but the numbers will be massive thanks to his star power.”

A significant following at home tournaments is something Smith has become used to after impressive crowd numbers at both LIV Golf Adelaide events, plus the DP World Tour-sanctioned Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship.

Smith has played in every edition of both tournaments - barring 2020 and 2021 - since turning pro in 2013 and will almost certainly do so once more after the LIV season has ended in September. 

He is likely to be joined by defending Australian Open champion and fellow LIV golfer, Joaquin Niemann after the Chilean mentioned he plans to play a handful of DP World Tour-sanctioned tournaments for the world-ranking points.

Smith has not won a trophy in Australia since the 2022 PGA Championship, although his Ripper GC did secure a thrilling playoff triumph against the South African Stinger GC last time LIV visited.

Before he returns to his home country, Smith has two more LIV Golf events this term and will be looking to improve on his sixth place in the individual standings as well as Ripper's third place in the team competition.

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman clinched an extremely popular home victory for Ripper GC at LIV Golf Adelaide on Sunday in the 54-hole circuit's first-ever team playoff.

The Australian's success came at the expense of their South African counterparts from Stinger GC - Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester - writing another chapter into the history of this long-standing sporting rivalry between the two nations.

Both teams played sensational golf to reach a playoff, too, with Ripper carding a cumulative 20-under on Sunday while Stinger stood head and shoulders above everyone else via a collective 24-under.

The pair could not be split at the end on a grand total of 53-under for the week, a LIV team record, and so the unique playoff format made its bow for LIV. Both captains chose another of their teammates to play alongside them in a fourball sudden death format.

After Oosthuizen missed a tricky downhill putt at the first playoff hole to seal victory for Stinger, the Australian pair - backed by an extremely boisterous following - piled the pressure on at the second go down the par-4 18th and eventually closed out with a bogey via Smith.

Speaking immediately after the winning putt dropped, Smith was almost at a loss for words. He said: "This is unreal. It is a dream come true for us, I think. We've been talking about it all year. It's one that we wanted to win, obviously... I don't even know what to say - it's just so good."

Meanwhile, Smith's playoff partner Leishman admitted the Ripper GC squad knew the pressure was on them to deliver for their home fans this week.

He said: "It's unbelievable. We had a fair bit of pressure this week, and I think we really embraced it this year. It was tough playing in front of home fans, but we loved every second of it and this is the dream result."

Ripper's success was largely based on consistency from all members of the team, with Smith, Leishman, and Lucas Herbert - who was celebrating his first team victory - all ending the week T14 on 13-under in the individual standings.

Matt Jones, who labelled himself as "the old man" out of the quartet, finished just one stroke ahead in a tie for ninth. The 44-year-old said: "I'm the old man out here. To get to do it with these boys - we're all good friends. I've been out here for a few years now and this is my second team win with Cam and Leish, and to get Herby a first one here in Australia... I don't think you can beat this."

HYFLYERS' BRENDAN STEELE WINS LIV GOLF ADELAIDE INDIVIDUAL TITLE IN 2024

Away from the team format, there was further disappointment for Oosthuizen after Brendan Steele just about held on to claim the individual prize by one shot at The Grange. 

The American was the overnight leader from Danny Lee on -14 and ticked off the holes with a handful more birdies to finish on 18-under. Meanwhile, the South African pair of Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel began to really heat up - carding seven and eight-under, respectively.

Despite the low final round, which featured five birdies in his opening eight holes, Stinger GC's captain finished with a par at the last to claim solo second.

While Steele will undoubtedly be delighted with his victory, a slight shine will be taken off given his $4 million winner's check will shrink by around 50% due to Australian income tax laws.

LIV is back next weekend (May 3-5) at Sentosa Golf Club for LIV Golf Singapore.

Cameron Smith is an iconic figure in Australian sports - of that there is little doubt. And the 2022 Open Champion proved it once again as LIV Golf returned to his home country for the second year in a row.

After a highly-successful debut in South Australia during 2023, LIV's sixth event of the year was arguably its most anticipated given the public Down Under have largely been starved of high-quality golf over the years.

LIV Golf Adelaide has already thrown up plenty of iconic moments - from players 'doing a shoey' to Aces at The Watering Hole - despite its infancy, and another awesome picture was painted during the first round on Friday.

Playing alongside the Spanish Masters-winning pair of Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia in one of the most-watched groups at The Grange, Smith made it through the first 17 holes with a completely clean card that featured a couple of birdies and an eagle to sit at four-under.

He would go on to record a par at the four-shot 18th, but only after receiving an incredible reception from the masses who followed the trio. Not quite at the numbers who walk down 18 at the final three Majors of the season, but still impressive nonetheless, the huge crowd gathered to try and catch a glimpse of their homeland hero as he finished off his opening round.

Smith's all-Australian Ripper GC sit in fifth place after round one on -15, with Matt Jones on six-under and Marc Leishman on minus five.

They trail Torque GC and Ironheads GC in the team standings, however, with the pair of squads making up the top four places in the individual leaderboard.

Ironheads' Jinichiro Kozuma shot an incredible nine-under to lead the way while Toque GC's Carlos Ortiz settled in behind on -8. Kozuma's teammate, Danny Lee is also on eight under, and Ortiz's buddy, Mito Perreira heads up the four players on -7.

Further down the list, Anthony Kim has continued his comeback with more improving form. The American ended round one one-under and in a tie for 35th alongside 2008 Ryder Cup foe, Garcia. The pair will reunite - along with Sam Horsfield - on Saturday during round two of LIV Golf Adelaide.

The individual winner of this event will still receive $4 million, however, they will only take home around half of that due to Australian tax laws.

Cameron Smith wants LIV to focus more on the international markets and drop some of its US-based tournaments from the schedule in years to come following the success the fledgling series has had in Australia.

As it stands, there are five US stops on the breakaway circuit’s 2024 calendar, with the venues for the Individual and Team Championships yet to be announced.

Smith, who is captain of the all-Australian Ripper GC team, admitted it will be hard to match the popularity of LIV Golf Adelaide, but said the sport is already saturated in America.

“I think the Australian fans are pretty hard to recreate around the world, but you just pick a city or a country that I guess hadn't seen good golf for a long time,” said Smith, ahead of the 2024 LIV Golf Adelaide event.

“It worked last year. It's going to work again this year here. I can see it definitely working internationally a lot better than the US because there's just so many tournaments in the US.

“I'm definitely putting my hand up for more of an international schedule and getting fans out that haven't seen quality golf for a while and showing them what LIV is all about.”

Smith’s sentiments were echoed by two of his Ripper GC teammates Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert.

Given the fact a number of teams are made up of players from the same country or continent, Leishman called on LIV bosses to lean into that element more and alter the schedule accordingly.

“Like Cam said, there's opportunities all around the world, markets that haven't been hit yet like Adelaide hadn't been,” Leishman said.

“You've got Torque – there's an opportunity for a tournament in Chile; the South African lads I'm sure would love to have one in South Africa; you've got all of Asia and India.

“There's just so many opportunities, and I think places - like Cam said - that haven't seen world-class golf for a long time, I think that's where there's huge opportunities.

“Obviously the [PGA] Tour plays a lot in America, and they've got that fan base there. I think we can really create a huge worldwide fan base because there's a lot of big financial markets around the whole world."

Should LIV bosses pay heed to these comments, it would open the door to establishing ‘home’ venues, something which appeals to Herbert.

“The team aspect makes it very easy for a country, for example, Chile to follow the Torque team or all those sort of markets,” Herbert said.

“Honestly, I think by all reports that I'm hearing about this event [Adelaide] last year and obviously what I've seen so far, I think you're going to struggle to recreate it 13 times again around the world. It's just a special event.

“But I do feel like with a country sort of dominating each team, I feel like that is going to allow for maybe a market where our international events can get hyped up really, really well and really get behind a home team kind of feeling.”

When it comes to apparel, Cameron Smith is one of the most stylish golfers in the game, with the Australian donning Original Penguin apparel, something which his four-man Ripper GC side also wears. 

Turning professional in 2013, the former Champion Golfer of the Year has worn Original Penguin for a number of years and, in that time, he has claimed a number of PGA Tour and LIV Golf titles.

Following his Open Championship victory, Smith joined LIV Golf in August 2022 and, after a year with the circuit, his Ripper GC side can be seen decked out in Original Penguin gear. 

The likes of Stinger GC have announced apparel deals and, in the case of Ripper GC, it shows that the brand has embraced the new circuit, as Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert have been seen in the Original Penguin apparel during 2024.

Regarding Original Penguin, the brand was introduced in 1955 by Munsingwear, a Minneapolis-based underwear and military garment manufacturer, when it launched the Original Penguin golf shirt in the United States.

Since then, Smith is one of the players to wear Original Penguin apparel, with Jake Knapp spotted wearing the gear at his victory during the 2024 Mexico Open.

Cameron Smith has been forced to withdraw prior to the second round of LIV Golf Miami due to illness, with it reported that the Australian was suffering from food poisoning that he picked up earlier in the week in Florida. 

The Riper GC captain will be replaced by reserve player, Ben Campbell, who makes his LIV debut. The New Zealander has history with Smith, having beaten the 2022 Open Champion by one stroke to claim the 2023 Hong Kong Open.

While the timing of Smith's illness is inopportune, with The Masters taking place next week, the 30-year-old is expected to make a full recovery in time for Augusta National.

Smith will be eyeing up a good performance at the first men's Major championship of the year as he looks to propel himself back up the World Rankings and aid his bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the summer.

The Australian, who is behind compatriots Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Davis in the rankings, admitted earlier in the week that he's "desperate" to feature in the tournament, but admitted the limited options mean there is more pressure to perform.

"I have to play well to get there," he said. "I know I have to play well, and I’m probably only going to get three or four shots at it before they make the selection. I guess it is more pressure."

Cameron Smith has admitted that his opportunities to qualify for July’s Olympics in Paris are running out.

The LIV Golf player needs a high enough world ranking to represent Australia at the Olympics, with only the top two men from his country qualifying when the places are confirmed on 17 June. 

LIV Golf can't offer world ranking points, meaning Smith needs to rely on the three Majors between now and that date for a chance to move high enough in the world rankings to book his second Olympics appearance after representing Australia at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Smith admitted to The Guardian's Jack Snape that's something he dearly wants to to achieve. He said: “It’s desperately a place that I want to get to and represent Australia."

Smith was second in the world rankings when he joined LIV Golf in 2022, helped by his maiden Major title at that year’s Open, but limited opportunities to win world ranking points since then mean he is currently ranked 62nd, behind compatriots Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Davis.

The first opportunity to climb the rankings before the deadline is The Masters, which begins at Augusta National next week, followed by May’s PGA Championship and finishing with the US Open, which concludes at Pinehurst No.2 just one day before the cut-off.

With 100 world ranking points available to the winner of each, Smith, who qualifies for all four Majors thanks to his win at St Andrews two years ago, is targeting some strong performances in the three big events before the men’s team is selected.

However, he admitted the limited options mean there is more pressure to perform. "I have to play well to get there," he said. "I know I have to play well, and I’m probably only going to get three or four shots at it before they make the selection. I guess it is more pressure.”

The 30-year-old, who plays at this week’s LIV Golf Miami, can certainly take some encouragement from his recent Major appearances. As well as his Open win in 2022, he also finished T3 at that year's Masters. Last year, he had top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and US Open, while his recent form has been good, too, including T2 in his most recent start at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March.

Days after an inspired Nicolai Hojgaard claimed the DP World Tour Championship title, the 2024 schedule begins with two events – the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and Joburg Open in South Africa.

The former takes place at Royal Queensland Golf Club and is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia, with 3,000 Race to Dubai points available as the challenge to reach next year’s season closer at Dubai’s Earth Course begins.

Last year, a purse of AUD $2m was available (approximately £1.05m or $1.31m), as Cameron Smith delighted the home fans to claim a winner’s cheque of AUS $340,000, and the LIV Golf player is back in his homeland for the chance to compete for an identical sum this year.

That will be the first prize money awarded of a record $148.5m for the 2024 season. The season will be separated into three phases, beginning with The Global Swings phase. That is in five sections, starting with the Opening Swing, which features six tournaments in Australia and Africa.

As well as the prize money for individual tournaments, there’s a $200,000 bonus to the winner of each of the five swings, while there’s another $1m to be shared between the 10 leading players at the conclusion of the phase. 

For now, players will be focused on the task at hand, namely getting their hands on a trophy and the AUD $340,000 prize money payout. The runner-up will earn AUD $220,000.

Below is the prize money payout for the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.  

Fortinet Australian PGA Championship Prize Money Payout

Who Are The Star Names In The Fortinet Australian PGA Championship?

The player to beat is Cameron Smith. The 2022 Open champion moved to a career-high World No.2 following that win at St Andrews and would have likely enjoyed a spell at the summit by now if not for his move to LIV Golf.

The Australian has had a successful season on the circuit, with two wins to finish runner-up in the individual standings behind Talor Gooch. In 2022, he claimed a hat-trick of Fortinet Australian PGA Championship titles with a three-shot win over Jason Scrivener. Can he make it four here?

Smith’s LIV Golf Ripper GC teammates Jediah Morgan and Marc Leishman also play while another high-profile Australian in the field is World No.44 Cameron Davis.

Another local hero participating is Adam Scott, who has had a stint as World No.1 and has won the event twice. He is looking for his first win since the 2020 Genesis Invitational.

Other big names include Adrian Meronk, Robert MacIntyre, Min Woo Lee and Ryo Hisatsune, who were among 10 DP World Tour players to earn a PGA Tour card for their efforts in the previous season.

Alex Fitzpatrick, who finished T17 at the 2023 Open, two-time DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell, Rafa Cabrera Bello, who has four wins on the Tour, and LIV Golf players Mito Pereira and Joaquin Niemann also appear.

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler admits he is concerned over the lack of detail about the proposed deal between golf's rival factions and worried at a recent high-level exit from the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour sent shockwaves through the game of golf last month by announcing a link up with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which has bankrolled LIV Golf and temped recent Major winners away like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith.

But Scheffler insists he and fellow players are still in the dark even after two PGA Tour officials gave evidence to a Senate subcommittee in Washington DC on Tuesday, which lasted almost three hours.

"I just think that yesterday we didn't really learn a whole lot again," Scheffler reflected. "As a player on Tour, we still don't really have a lot of clarity as to what's going on and that's a bit worrisome.

"They keep saying it's a player-run organisation but we don't really have the information that we need. I watched part of yesterday and didn't learn anything.

"It's just a framework agreement right now so I don't know what that entails. We are not involved in any of the discussions. None of the players were involved in the original framework agreement."

Players Championship winner Scheffler, 27, feels the five players who sit on the PGA Tour's policy board - Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati -  should have been consulted before the original agreement was revealed.

"We are the ones that voted to put them in that position to be there and we want their voices to be heard, and that was really the only frustration with the original announcement is that none of those four or five guys were involved at all," he added.

"I love playing golf on the PGA Tour and I'm hoping that's going to exist for a long time. I felt like we were doing a good job before and then the agreement happened and now we have to navigate the whole deal.”

Scheffler admits he was concerned to see Randall Stephenson, a former AT&T executive and PGA Tour policy board member since 2012, resign from his position because he "had serious concerns” with the deal.

He said: “It was a little bit concerning that someone like him wouldn't be on board. 

“We have players reps and we have other people that are on that advisory board, and any time we lose one of those members is definitely a bit concerning. Those guys are put in position for a reason, and for anyone to leave is tough for us. We'll see what happens.”

Scheffler is in Scotland preparing for Thursday’s Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club outside Edinburgh. 

He is looking to pick up his third win of the season after dismissing criticism of his putting, which has left him ranked 112th on tour with the flat stick.

He said: "If you're hitting the ball as good as I have been in the past year, it's very difficult to make all the putts. 

"I don't really get to choose what kind of putts I have.  As my putting struggles have continued in your minds, I've got back to No. 1 in the world and I've had a bunch of top five finishes. 

“Granted, if I can make a few more putts, those would have been more wins.

“But at the end of the day I'm proud of tournaments this year and playing solid golf, and that's what I'm working on.”

Cameron Smith admits he must “tidy up" the driver despite returning to the winner’s circle ahead of his Open title defence.

The Aussie stunned Rory McIlroy at St Andrews last summer to lift the 150th Open with a superb final round 64.

He subsequently moved to the LIV Golf League, where he picked up his second title at the Centurion Club outside London at the weekend. Now, Smith intends to spend time in the capital before heading to Royal Liverpool on Saturday to prepare for next week’s final Major. 

And the World No.7, who carded a final round of 68 to finish 15-under-par, admits his game needs to sharpen up for the links.

Smith, who pocketed $4 million for the individual title, said: “I feel like I've done so much work on my driver this year and it's really been feeling good. 

“It wasn't its best weekend this weekend. I feel like I have to do some work on that. Even though it's a links course, generally you have to hit a lot of different shots off tees. 

“So if there's one thing, I think it would just be tidy up that driver, and I'll be set. It's the Open Championship, so you want to do your best. There's always that pressure. It's still got all the biggest names there.” 

Smith is among 16 players from LIV Golf due to tee it up at the Open and he admits his latest win is a welcome boost ahead of his first trip to Hoylake.

Smith, who tied for ninth at the PGA Championship and finished fourth at the US Open, added: “I think it's more of a confidence thing there. Just winning again I think is nice.

“I've been knocking on the door. It's nice to get one out of the way, and hopefully it opens the floodgates a little bit. There's nothing worse going into a big golf tournament and you're playing crappy golf.”

Smith’s victory was his second title since joining LIV last September after losing in a playoff to Dustin Johnson in May at the Tulsa event. He has never played Hoylake before and plans to travel up this weekend.

“I’ll have a bit of a longer prep than usual," he said. “I’ll put the clubs down for three or four days, just hang out in London, see all the sights, and just have a good time, relax.”

But the former World No.2 knows he has plenty to practise after enjoying his winter following five wins in 2022 year, including the Open.

Smith opened at Centurion with an impressive eight-under-par 63 before a 67 on Saturday in which he lamented: “I’d like to hit the ball on the clubface for once.”

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With one week to go until The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, the DP World Tour and PGA Tour head to Scotland for the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open.

Held at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, the tournament will offer up some last-minute links preparation for the world’s best players ahead of the year’s final men’s Major championship at Hoylake. 

With the co-sanctioned status, this year’s Scottish Open represents one of the best fields in the DP World Tour calendar, with 30 of the top 50 players in the world set to compete this week. 

Last year saw America’s Xander Schauffele capture his third win of 2022 with a one-shot victory over fellow countryman Kurt Kitayama. The 29-year-old hasn’t competed since his T19 finish at the Travelers Championship but will look to continue his impressive record in the United Kingdom having also finished T15 at last year’s Open which was held at St Andrews.

This week’s field will be topped by World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, who will look to improve on his missed cut from last year’s tournament as he bids to win for the first time outside of America. The 27-year-old already has two victories on the PGA Tour this year following his wins at the Players Championship and the WM Phoenix Open.

Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith are the only two players in the world’s top ten who aren’t competing in Scotland, meaning UK fans will be able to cheer on familar faces in Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick. World No. 11 Wyndham Clark, who finished T16 last year, is also set to compete in the tournament having won the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club last month.

2021 and 2020 Scottish Open champions, Min Woo Lee and England’s Aaron Rai, are two of the other recent champions also set to compete with both enjoying successful seasons on the PGA Tour so far this year. There is also space for World No. 23 and 2015 champion, Rickie Fowler, who will likely receive a warm welcome having recently won for the first time in four and a half years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Ryder Cup hopeful Ludvig Aberg will also make his first start in Europe as a professional having been granted a sponsors exemption. The Swede, who only turned pro at the Canadian Open, has since recorded three-consecutive top-40 finishes before his T4 finish last week at the John Deere Classic. 

This year will see the field compete for an increased purse of $9 million - a $1m increase from 2022 - with the winner taking home $1,620,000. The event will also offer three final spots for the Open at Hoylake, given to the highest finishers who aren't already in the field. 

Here is the full projected prize money, payout breakdown and field for the 2023 Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.

Scottish Open Prize Money 2023

Scottish Open Field 2023

• Ludvig Aberg
• Byeong Hun An
• Marcus Armitage
• Adri Arnaus
• Nick Bachem
• Aaron Baddeley
• Matthew Baldwin
• Oliver Bekker
• Wil Besseling
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• Alexander Björk
• Thomas Bjørn
• Zac Blair
• Dan Bradbury
• Joseph Bramlett
• Sam Burns
• Rafa Cabrera Bello
• Jorge Campillo
• Patrick Cantlay
• Wyndham Clark
• Eric Cole
• Nicolas Colsaerts
• Corey Conners
• Sean Crocker
• MJ Daffue
• Cam Davis
• Thomas Detry
• Luke Donald
• Jamie Donaldson
• Austin Eckroat
• Harrison Endycott
• Ewen Ferguson
• Ross Fisher
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Grant Forrest
• Simon Forsström
• Rickie Fowler
• Ryan Fox
• Daniel Gavins
• Doug Ghim
• Will Gordon
• Gavin Kyle Green
• Ben Griffin
• Harry Hall
• Chase Hanna
• Brian Harman
• Padraig Harrington
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Lucas Herbert
• Garrick Higgo
• Calum Hill
• Daniel Hillier
• Lee Hodges
• Charley Hoffman
• Tom Hoge
• Rasmus Hojgaard
• Nicolai Hojgaard
• Max Homa
• Billy Horschel
• Viktor Hovland
• Mackenzie Hughes
• Sungjae Im
• Scott Jamieson
• Matthew Jordan
• Maximilian Kieffer
• Tom Kim
• Michael Kim
• S.H. Kim
• Bio Kim
• Yeongsu Kim
• Kurt Kitayama
• Joakim Lagergren
• Romain Langasque
• Pablo Larrazabal
• David Law
• Thriston Lawrence
• Min Woo Lee
• KH Lee
• Haotong Li
• David Lingmerth
• Luke List
• Zander Lombard
• Hurly Long
• Shane Lowry
• Joost Luiten
• Robert MacIntyre
• Richard Mansell
• Ben Martin
• Rory McIlroy
• Tom McKibbin
• Adrian Meronk
• Guido Migliozzi
• Keith Mitchell
• Francesco Molinari
• Edoardo Molinari
• Taylor Montgomery
• Alex Noren
• Thorbjørn Olesen
• Adrian Otaegui
• C.T. Pan
• Yannik Paul
• Matthieu Pavon
• Eddie Pepperell
• Victor Perez
• JT Poston
• Seamus Power
• Tapio Pulkkanen
• Andrew Putnam
• Aaron Rai
• Richie Ramsay
• Davis Riley
• Patrick Rodgers
• Justin Rose
• Antoine Rozner
• Sam Ryder
• Kalle Samooja
• Xander Schauffele
• Scottie Scheffler
• Marcel Schneider
• Adam Scott
• Yoseop Seo
• Shubhankar Sharma
• Robby Shelton
• Callum Shinkwin
• Marcel Siem
• Alex Smalley
• Jordan Smith
• Sebastian Soderberg
• Matthew Southgate
• Jordan Spieth
• Scott Stallings
• Ockie Strydom
• Connor Syme
• Callum Tarren
• Nick Taylor
• Ben Taylor
• Sahith Theegala
• Justin Thomas
• Sami Valimaki
• Erik van Rooyen
• Nicolai Von Dellingshausen
• Jimmy Walker
• Matt Wallace
• Justin Walters
• Paul Waring
• Dale Whitnell
• Danny Willett
• Oliver Wilson
• Gary Woodland
• Brandon Wu
• Dylan Wu
• Ashun Wu
• Kevin Yu
• Fabrizio Zanotti

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Cameron Smith managed to hold off his Ripper GC teammate, Marc Leishman and 4 Aces', Patrick Reed, with Smith carding a final round 68 to claim a second LIV Golf title and first trophy since the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in November 2022.

The individual tournament had been exciting to watch, but it was also the team portion where attention was turned as 4 Aces GC, Ripper GC and Stinger GC battled it out. But, despite winning the individual portion, it was Smith who missed his final putt on the 18th, which meant his Rippers' side missed out to the 4 Aces by a single shot.

Beginning on Sunday, it was the Australian who held a three-shot lead over his fellow countryman Leishman. However, out the gate that advantage was reduced quickly, with players scoring well early on.

Smith, though, fired back and, going into the back nine, he had managed to recover his three shot lead from the start of the day. Soon though, Smith was joined by Reed who was making his typical Sunday charge, with the American carding six birdies in an eight hole run from the eighth to the 15th.

Reed was still a few shots back off Smith but, at the par 5 15th, the Australian opened the door slightly as he pulled his tee shot left into the trees. Luckily, his ball came to rest just to the right of them and, after parring both 15 and 16, he made a birdie at the par 3 17th to sit two shots clear with Reed playing the last.

If Reed had birdied the 18th then Smith may have been slightly more nervous but, after the American made par, it gave the Australian some breathing space, a good thing after he found the bunker with a wedge for his third shot. Although he splashed out to under six-feet, Smith couldn't convert, with his putt sliding just by on the right side.

Picking up the individual title, Smith's Ripper GC side, who he captains, missed out on a playoff with Dustin Johnson's 4 Aces. The American trio of Reed, Pat Perez and Johnson shot rounds of six, five and four-under to scoop yet another team title. 

In the Ripper GC camp, Leishman, Smith and Jed Morgan carded rounds of five, three and two-under, but their efforts weren't enough as they came up a shot shy. Along with the two teams, Stinger GC's Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester and Branden Grace fired a seven-under round for a 29-under team total to finish five shots back of the 4 Aces.

It's the final Major of the year and the most historic in golf as the 151st Open Championship takes place at Royal Liverpool on July 20-23.

And it's also a final chance to see all of the best players in the world battling against each other as players from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf will all compete at Hoylake.

There's still no Official World Golf Ranking points available for the 54-hole, shotgun start tournaments in the LIV Golf League, but with Major champions among their ranks and a host of top performers before the split in golf there will still be a decent group from LIV.

And the band of LIV contenders will be led of course by defending champion Cameron Smith, who joined Greg Norman's new tour shortly after lifting the Claret Jug at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews last year.

Previous winners Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen can play in the Open until they're 60, and they will be joined by fellow Major champions Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed.

Koepka has a fresh five-year exemption after winning this year's PGA Championship, while Johnson and DeChambeau are in the third year of their exemptions from winning the Masters and US Open respectively in 2020.

Reed is in the final year of his exemption from winning the 2018 Masters but could book a return next year with a top 10 finish at Hoylake.

Fellow LIV golfers Charl Schwartzel, Brandon Grace and Laurie Canter all secured their spot through Final Qualifying, taking the total number of LIV Golf players in the Open field to 16.

LIV Golfers who are in the Open Championship

• Abraham Ancer
• Brooks Koepka
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Cam Smith
• Dustin Johnson
• Henrik Stenson
• Joaquin Niemann
• Louis Oosthuzien
• Patrick Reed
• Phil Mickelson
• Richard Bland
• Talor Gooch
• Thomas Pieters
• Charl Schwartzel
• Brandon Grace
• Laurie Canter

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Cameron Smith says that being questioned about joining LIV Golf in his press conference after winning last year's Open did overshadow his achievement of winning the Claret Jug a bit.

The Australian won the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, but as he sat with the Claret Jug in his celebratory media conference, the question about joining LIV Golf reared up.

Smith had been linked with a move to Greg Norman's tour, and he signed up to join the new team event soon after his maiden Major success.

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Although it turned out to be true, Smith still didn't like being questioned about LIV Golf in the direct aftermath of his Open victory - and says it took a bit of the gloss off his success.

"Yeah, it was definitely, I guess, a frustrating media conference after the Open," said Smith ahead of LIV Golf's return to Centurion. 

"I think, like you said, perhaps a little bit overshadowed that I'd probably just won the biggest tournament that I'll ever play in and someone was asking that.

"But as I look back on that, it's just a guy trying to do his job. I suppose it was a little bit harder from then onwards, definitely whilst making the decision, just some nasty stuff, I suppose, said by the keyboard warriors. I knew it was going to be tough, but I feel since I made the decision, I made the right one."

Despite the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund doing a deal, Smith seems unlikely to return to full-time PGA Tour action as he seemingly has no interest in playing more golf.

A lack of ranking points may be an issue at some stage, but his Open success means he can play for the Claret Jug until he's 60, and gives him a five-year exemption into the other three Majors.

And as of now, playing in just the LIV Golf League and the four Majors suits the Australian just fine.

"Exactly like it is this year would be perfect for me," Smith said of his ideal schedule. "14 and four majors, I'd take that for the rest of my career."

Although the future of men's professional golf has yet to be fully decided, Smith feels that he and the rest of the LIV Golf roster made the right move.

"I think we're going to see how stuff unfolds," he added. "It's probably still a little bit early to assume, but yeah, I felt I made the right decision for multiple reasons. 

"I think the last few weeks is another tick in the box for all us guys."

Rory McIlroy is leaving another Major championship empty handed after an agonising close call at Los Angeles Country Club.

The Northern Irishman posted a nine-under total to force Wyndham Clark to par the 72nd to win, with McIlroy ultimately coming up one stroke shy in LA.

It's his third top-three finish at a Major in 14 months and his 19th top 10 in a Major since he last won one at Valhalla in August 2014.

So what went wrong on Sunday for McIlroy?

It had shades of St Andrews about it, where he closed with a two-under 70 at the 150th Open to lose out by two strokes to Cameron Smith. The Aussie shot one of the all-time Open Championship rounds with an eight-under 64 to rip the Claret Jug out of McIlroy's hands.

Rory played great golf that week but just didn't get the putts to drop on Sunday. Was he too conservative? Did he try to 'not lose' instead of go out and win? Those were the questions.

Sunday at LACC was similar. He had 36 putts in his final round and certainly looked to be playing with that same mentally of trying not to lose instead of going out there to win.

But it was slightly different. The course was firm and bogeys were there to be made, and his safe strategy looked to be the right play. He didn't have a charging Cameron Smith to deal with, he just needed to par his way in on the tough LACC and hope that it would be good enough.

He made two big errors that ultimately cost him that elusive fifth Major, though.

He missed from 4ft for birdie on the par 5 8th after finding the edge of the putting green in two. His first putt from just off of the surface came up shy before he pulled his birdie attempt left.

The fatal error came on 14, the third and final par 5 of the round. His wedge from 125 yards got caught up in the wind and came up short, and after a free drop for an embedded ball he was unable to get it up-and-down to save his par.

Wyndham Clark in the group behind then hit the shot of the tournament, finding the green in two with a fairway wood and making a birdie for a two-shot swing and a lead of three.

Clark ultimately dropped two shots coming in but sealed the title by a single stroke - and it will be a tough one to take for McIlroy once again.

Unlike St Andrews last year where Smith charged past him with a 64, he wasn't really beaten this week. Sure, Wyndham Clark played the tournament of his life, but McIlroy would have won if a couple of moments just went his way.

He more beat himself despite a well played final round. He lost out by one after playing the three par 5s in level par on Sunday. That's what it came down to.

His missed four-footer on the 8th and his bogey on the 14th were the ones that stopped him winning his second US Open title. If he birdied the 8th and parred the 14th he would be a five-time Major champion.

"There was a couple of things that I probably would have done differently, but all in all, I played a solid round of golf," McIlroy said.

"That one wedge shot on 14, missed birdie putt on 8, really apart from that, I did everything else the way I wanted to.

"Yeah, fine, fine margins at this level and at this tournament especially, but I fought to the very end. I obviously never give up. And I'm getting closer.

"The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it's going to happen for me. Just got to regroup and get focused for Hoylake in a few weeks' time."

He'll have certainly proved to himself that he is ready to win Majors again over these past 14 months but the reality is that he still hasn't won one for nearly nine years and this was probably his best chance yet along with St Andrews last year.

McIlroy will be the hot favorite at Royal Liverpool next month, scene of his 2014 Open triumph, but who's to say that there won't be an in-form Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith or Brooks Koepka to get past.

This was a golden opportunity and one he'll be desperate to bounce back from as soon as possible.

He was superb this week at the US Open. He hit six more greens in regulation than anyone else, and nine more than Wyndham Clark, and drove the ball as good as we've ever seen. 

He would have been a worthy champion with a brilliant US Open strategy of hitting green after green. Maybe he just wasn't quite aggressive enough or maybe he was unlucky that the putts just didn't quite drop when he needed them to.

They say your first Major is hard and the second one is even harder, but for McIlroy it's the fifth one that is proving to be the toughest. 

"When I do finally win this next Major, it's going to be really, really sweet. I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another Major championship," he said.

He's right, it is going to be very, very sweet when he wins another Major. What does he need for that to happen?

If he brings the same game to Royal Liverpool and gets the right breaks at the right time, there's no doubting Major number five could be coming very soon.

In a thrilling finale to the 123rd US Open, it was Wyndham Clark who picked up his first Major title as he overcame World No.3, Rory McIlroy, by one shot at Los Angeles Country Club.

Despite mixed reactions to the golf course from fellow professionals, LACC certainly delivered a fantastic final day, with 29-year-old Clark firing a level-par final round to claim a second title in just four starts and, with it, a paycheck for $3.6 million.

Prior to the event, USGA CEO, Mike Whan, revealed that the tournament purse would be $20 million, the first time a Major championship has passed that landmark. Consequently, in LA, the top 38 players secured six and seven-figure sums, with Clark securing the biggest payday of them all.

Take a look at the full tournament payout below: 

US Open Prize Money Breakdown 2023

In an exciting and thrilling finale at the 123rd US Open, viewers were treated to a fantastic battle between Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy which resulted in Clark claiming his first Major scalp and biggest victory of his career!

Along with the duo, we also saw a great finish from Cameron Smith who, on the back nine, posted a three-under-par score that was significantly less than what others had been shooting during the final round.

Because of his play, the Australian placed as the best LIV golfer for the week finishing in fourth place. Speaking after his round, he stated: "I feel like the game has been trending in the right direction. This is kind of a big tick of the box, I think. Obviously a world-class field, world-class venue, and it got really tough on the weekend, as well. So the game is feeling really good, and just probably a little bit of confidence."

As Smith finished inside the top-5, Dustin Johnson claimed a top-10 spot as he fired a two-over-par final round for a three-under tournament total. Once again, just like the rest of his tournament, DJ struggled on the greens with his putter failing to get hot as he played the final round at LACC.

The next LIV player on the leaderboard was Brooks Koepka, who produced a one-under final round for a one-under tournament total. The American had stated on Friday that he wasn't a fan of the course, with Koepka one of the few players to voice their view of LACC's layout.

Take a look at how all of the LIV players got on at the 2023 US Open below:

LIV GOLF LEADERBOARD AT THE US OPEN

• -6 Cameron Smith
• -3 Dustin Johnson
• -1 Brooks Koepka
• +1 Bryson DeChambeau
• +2 Sergio Garcia
• +3 Joaquin Niemann
• +4 David Puig
• +6 Sebastian Munoz
• +7 Abraham Ancer
• +8 Patrick Reed
• CUT LINE (DIDN'T MAKE THE WEEKEND)
• +3 Phil Mickelson, Mito Pereira
• +4 Thomas Pieters
• +6 Martin Kaymer
• +9 Carlos Ortiz

Two Australian amateur golfers will be among the spectators at the 2023 US Open as guests of Open champion Cameron Smith after winning his annual scholarship.

Both Jeffrey Guan, 18, and 17-year-old Joseph Buttress have been flown over to Los Angeles Country Club from Australia and have spent time watching how Smith prepares for a Major before then watching the US Open live in person.

Created in 2016, now LIV Golf star Smith annually flies two winners of his scholarship  program over to the USA to get behind the scenes access to life at the very top of pro golf.

The trip of a lifetime sees the two teenagers get golfing lessons from Smith at his home in Florida, as well as workout advice along with playing rounds with the Australian.

The pair were then flown across the United States on a private jet to attend the US Open, where they got to watch Smith face the media ahead of his bid for a second Major.

“It’s been so cool to watch how dedicated Cam is to his game. From the gym sessions to practice, it’s easy to see why he’s one of the best in the world,” Buttress said to Australian Golf Digest.

Guan added: “It’s pretty inspiring and reminds us we have so much to work on. Cam is so world-class in every area of his game.”

The pair of aspiring golfers picked some week to get under the skin of life as a modern-day pro, as they touched down in the USA just as the seismic PGA Tour deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund was revealed.

After playing golf with Smith in the Jacksonville area, the pair also walked seven holes with the 29-year-old during his practice for the US Open on Tuesday.

Buttress is a rising star from Western Australia, while Guan claimed the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass just six months after Smith won the senior version - the PGA Tour's flagship event.

By now getting a close-up glimpse of what life is like in the pro game - dealing with LIV Golf, mergers and all the questions that come with such changes in golf - will be an eye-opening experience for the young Australians.

They're certainly two names worth watching out for in the future to see if this extra help from Smith will help them to make it in the pros.

The third major of a year which has been arguably the most interesting in golf’s history, has finally arrived, as the 2023 US Open is now just days away. Hosted in the Los Angeles area for the first time since 1948, the 2023 US Open will be the 123rd edition as all the PGA Tour’s (and LIV’s) stars will be on hand to attempt to bring home the trophy. 

Last year’s winner Matthew Fitzpatrick is nowhere to be found amongst the favorites to do so, as he’s ballooned up to +3500 to repeat as the outright winner. At the top of the odds board, Scottie Scheffler (+700) and Jon Rahm (+900) are the two most likely winners according to the market, but a few guys lurking below will likely have something to say about that. 

Can someone else rise from the bottom to overtake the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the world in Scheffler and Rahm? Let’s look at who rounds out my top 5 power rankings for the 2023 US Open.

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U.S. Open Odds

US Open Course - Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles, CA

Coming in at 7,421 yards, the par-70 Los Angeles Country Club (LACC) demands length off the tee, but more importantly, demands accuracy everywhere. As is common with US Opens, the rough at LACC is unforgiving, and players need to be dialed not just off the tee but on approach as well. The course features pure Bentgrass greens and Bermudagrass fairways throughout. 

US Open Power Rankings

Scottie Scheffler (+750) Bet $100 to collect $850 Get the best Scottie Scheffler odds at DraftKings

For Scottie Scheffler, if his putter is even a shell of its former self, the rest of the field won’t be able to match his ball striking. He’s the heavy favorite for a very good reason. 

Jon Rahm (+900) Bet $100 to collect $1,000 Head to DraftKings for the best Jon Rahm odds

Already with one major under his belt this season (the Masters), Jon Rahm is playing as good as anyone on Tour this season at the halfway point. 

Brooks Koepka (+1100) Bet $100 to collect $1,200 For the best Brooks Koepka odds go to DraftKings

With a T2 at the Masters, a win at the PGA Championship, and a win at a LIV event, Brooks Koepka has had the most success in 2023 thus far of anyone. 

Rory McIlroy (+1400) Bet $100 to collect $1,500 The best Rory McIlroy odds are at DraftKings

With no major wins since 2014, Rory McIlroy is still chasing the elusive No. 5. This course fits his game well, but he’s always a threat to get it done. 

Viktor Hovland (+1800) Bet $100 to collect $1,900 Go to DraftKings to get the best Viktor Hovland odds

A perfect 16-for-16 on cuts made this year with two wins to boot, it’s been the best season of Viktor Hovland’s young career.

Rory McIlroy believes players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour and turned down vast sums of money to join LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), should be compensated.

His comments came after the PGA Tour/PIF merger was announced earlier this week, which will likely pave the way for LIV golfers to return to the Tour they left behind, although quite how this will work remains unclear.

The likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, are all reported to have received huge signing on fees when they joined LIV Golf, while others have been rumoured to have turned lucrative offers down.

And whilst McIlroy says he was “never offered anything from LIV”, the Ulsterman suggested that those that were, but sided with the PGA Tour, are entitled to feel aggrieved.

“There has to be something for those guys,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports, adding that they probably felt that they were now “questioning that decision.”

Asked whether he was referring to some form of financial compensation, he added: “Yeah, I think so. Ultimately I think that’s what we’re talking about, yeah.”

McIlroy has never shied away from offering his opinion on LIV Golf from the moment it came into being – he’s always been opposed to the breakaway circuit.

It meant, whether he particularly liked it or not, taking on the unofficial role of PGA Tour spokesperson, doing a lot of the PR work for PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan.

“It's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens,” he said earlier this week.

Prior to the Canadian Open, McIlroy spoke in length about the merger, and he’s adamant that there “has to be consequences” for any LIV player who comes back onto the PGA Tour.

The four-time Major winner, who also finds himself in the spotlight as defending champion in Toronto, also acknowledged the benefits the merger may have for the game as a whole.

And he’s also reiterated why he made the decision he did to stay on a Tour where he has won 23 times and amassed over $70 million in prize money.

“My ambition has always been to protect the PGA Tour and to protect the aspirational nature of it,” he added. “I hope for me going forward that that is still the case, because I love what the PGA Tour stands for.”

Jack Nicklaus has given his backing to the news that the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour have announced a merger.

Earlier, it was revealed that the three organisations had come together to “unify the game of golf, on a global basis” by combining their golf-related commercial businesses and rights into a collectively owned, for-profit entity.

The 18-time Major winner, who hosted last week's designated event on the PGA Tour, The Memorial Tournament, told the Palm Beach Post: “The last three years have been difficult for the game and the players. I spoke with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan this morning. He seemed pleased with the arrangement that will once again bring together the best players in the world. I agree that this is good for the game of golf.

"I also appreciate the commissioner’s comments about continuing the tradition of the Tour and the mission to support important charitable causes. I am certainly interested in seeing the details. Jay indicated that this all will happen in 2024, so very soon the proof will be in the pudding. Whatever is best for the game of golf enjoys my full support.”

Before last week’s tournament at Muirfield Village, Nicklaus claimed he “doesn’t consider LIV players part of the game anymore.” 

He then went further, saying that, even though he respects their choice to sign for the circiuit, the likes of Open champion Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship, shouldn’t be allowed back on the PGA Tour in future. He continued: “No, I don’t. They’ve made a choice for what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. And that’s fine. I don’t have any issue with any of those guys."

Regardless, it appears some LIV Golf players may have a route back to the PGA Tour in 2024. That’s because the statement announcing the merger also said: “The three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour’s policies.”

In March, Nicklaus told Sir Nick Faldo's podcast LIV Golf was "trying to buy the game." Last year, he revealed he'd turned down a $100m+ offer to take on a role similar to Greg Norman's CEO position. 

The inception of LIV Golf has sparked controversy in the men’s professional game, not least of which has centred around the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

Players on the breakaway circuit are officially suspended from the PGA Tour and effectively suspended from the DP World Tour, with the Sports Resolution UK decision to uphold Keith Pelley’s right to issue sanctions in the form of suspensions and fines forcing many to resign their membership.

That means LIV players’ only routes to ranking points are through the four Majors or on the Asian Tour, but therein lies another snag. The recent update aimed at creating a fairer, more merit-based system has left anyone effectively not a part of the PGA Tour feeding on scraps.

In its simplest form, the OWGR now rewards players for winning full-field events. Jon Rahm branded it "laughable" that the winner of the 2022 DP World Tour Championship - which featured seven of the world’s top 25 players - would receive less points than the victor of the PGA Tour’s concurrent RSM Classic, which had none of the top 25 in attendance.

He added: "Look, I understand what they are trying to do with the depth of field but having the best players in the world automatically makes the tournament better. I don't care what their system says. I think they’ve made a mistake. They have devalued the value of the better players.

"Would you rather win a tournament when you have the No. 1 player in the world or because you have the 30th? I think it's more valuable if you're beating the best players in the world. I think a lot of people would agree and it should reflect that."

So, even if the breakaway circuit does get what it has craved since launching, players such as Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka will still likely see their ranking drop, unless they perform consistently brilliantly in the Majors.

Phil Mickelson has been one of the OWGR’s fiercest critics, saying it has “lost any credibility” in an interview with Sports Illustrated, before getting into a heated Twitter exchange with analyst Colt Knost.

"It is the OWGR's job to rank ALL the players in the world," the left-hander wrote. "Maybe they can do THEIR job and figure it out like they do for multiple tours with hundreds of players not even close to as good. But that would hurt the PGA’s revenue from CBS so the leaders won’t."

With that in mind, we asked, essentially, whether you agreed or disagreed with Mickelson in a Twitter poll.

The result shows a small majority thinks the OWGR is no longer fit for purpose, which is understandable. After all, Koepka had fallen outside the top 100 before finishing in a tie for second at The Masters and winning the PGA Championship.

That being said, claims of a total loss of credibility still feel extreme. However, one thing that can’t be argued is that the current world rankings do not accurately reflect who the best golfers in the world are, and that’s a problem.

Jack Nicklaus says he doesn’t consider LIV Golf players "part of the game anymore" and doesn't think they should have a route back to the PGA Tour

The 18-time Major winner is hosting one of the PGA Tour’s most prestigious events, The Memorial Tournament, this week. However, despite several world-class players being ineligible thanks to their move to the Tour’s rival, Nicklaus doesn't think it diminishes the event, with his focus on the quality of PGA Tour stars in the field.

Per Sports Illustrated, Nicklaus discussed the issue of LIV Golf with reporters outside Muirfield Village, where the tournament is being held. He said: “I don’t really consider those guys part of the game anymore and I don’t mean that in a nasty way… or really mean it that way.

“To me, this is a PGA Tour event and we’ve got the best field we can possibly have on the PGA Tour. Those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice to go where they went. We don’t really talk about it."

Nicklaus then went further, saying that, even though he respects their choice, the likes of Open champion Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship, shouldn’t be allowed back on the PGA Tour in future. He continued: “No, I don’t. They’ve made a choice for what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. And that’s fine. I don’t have any issue with any of those guys.

“I see six or seven of them who are members at the Bear’s Club [Nicklaus’s club in Florida]. It’s not an issue. They get along with the guys fine. It’s just where they chose to play golf. And I look at what the PGA Tour is and who the members are. And they’ve actually spurred the PGA Tour to get better."

The Memorial Tournament is one of the events that has seen benefit of those changes. It is a designated event meaning that, as well as a guaranteed top-class field, the purse is significantly higher than previous years, at $20m. Still, Nicklaus says those competing in it care more about the game than the financial rewards.

He explained: “I think the guys who have stayed on the PGA Tour for the most part are guys who play golf for the game of golf. I was all about how good I could be in the sport and the money just took care of itself. Some guys might not really care about playing golf, they’re just pretty good at it. It’s a means to an end to them. And if that’s what it is, that’s fine."

Despite Nicklaus’ strong opinion on the future of LIV Golf players, he doesn’t harbour any ill will towards them and explained he’d also sent a letter of congratulations to Koepka following his win at Oak Hill, telling him “it was a great competition," and that he "deserved it.’’

In the build-up to The Memorial Tournament, Nicklaus also turned his attention to PGA Tour stalwart Rory McIlroy, saying he is “certainly going to win some more Majors.” He'll have another chance to do that in two weeks, when PGA Tour players and LIV Golf players come together again for the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

A LIV Golf executive has proposed a crossover with the PGA Tour that would see the top four players from each teeing it up on the other circuit.

Per Sports Illustrated, the unnamed executive thinks there is scope for an agreement between the rivals. 

Speaking at the latest LIV Golf event in Washington DC, which was won by Range Goats GC player Harold Varner III, the executive said: “We’re not going anywhere. There’s an opportunity for more teams, the opportunity to cross-pollinate from an all-star PGA Tour team that might have the top four FedEx players coming to compete in every event or our top four players playing in the Players Championship, whatever it might be.”

That prospect seems a long way off considering the hostility of the PGA Tour to LIV Golf’s emergence, which has included the suspending players who've teed it up on its rival.

As well as that, there, but have also been questions over the long-term viability of LIV Golf. For example, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh has described LIV’s business model as “flawed,” while it was reported in February that it made “virtually zero” revenue in its first season.

According to the executive, though, that’s not a concern as LIV Golf is expected to mature over decades rather than months. The executive explained: “This was always going to take time to mature, time to establish itself. That happens at different stages for the league, for the teams and the events. We’ve always acknowledged and knew that it would take time for them to become fully established and fully commercially mature. And in terms of what that looks like, it’s almost limitless.”

The executive then detailed LIV Golf’s plans to grow its teams via corporate sponsorship and cultivate “home” venues for them, but again admitted it would take time, saying: “They’re in their absolute infancy in golf. But you look at other sports and how they depend on the success of the teams, now LIV has got that platform that it can do that.”

As it approaches its first anniversary, there’s no doubt LIV Golf has created significant disruption to the top of the game, including luring some of the world’s best players, such as Open champion Cameron Smith, to the big-money venture. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has adapted to the threat with larger purses in some of its tournaments and similar no-cut, limited field events to LIV Golf's planned for 2024.

Given those factors, a truce appears as far away as ever. However, according to the executive, it won’t stop LIV Golf continuing to grow via trial and error. The executive explained: “We’re not saying we’re the answer, we think we’ve got some good attributes. We’re not as cutting-edge as we want to be yet. I think the opportunity is trial and error, keep trying, keep making mistakes to try and grow the pie.”

In May, Brooks Koepka became the first current LIV Golf player to win a Major after surging to victory at Oak Hill Country Club to take the PGA Championship title. In doing so, he went a long way towards making a mockery of suggestions LIV Golf players would struggle to compete in tournaments with a supposedly higher intensity.

Ever since the rebel circuit was formed, a number of players who have opted to join it have been accused of being past their prime – or in it just for the payday. However, as well as Koepka's performance in the Major, he also finished runner-up with fellow LIV Golfer Phil Mickelson at The Masters at Augusta National. Meanwhile, several other players from the circuit have played well in the showpiece events too.

Koepka's latest PGA Championship win was his fifth Major title, and he’s clearly one of the hottest players on the planet right now. Not surprisingly, he will tee it up in the US Open.

He's far from the only LIV Golf player in the field for the third Major of the year at Los Angeles Country Club, either. In total, 15 players have qualified for the tournament in California, which takes place between 15 and 18 June, including six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson, 2020 winner Bryson DeChambeau and Open champion Cameron Smith.

While some secured their place in the field well in advance of the Major, others had to do it the hard way, through qualifying. Sergio Garcia reached his 24th consecutive US Open via that means, and he was joined by Carlos Ortiz, Sebastian Munoz and David Puig after their successes in final qualifying.

Not everyone has been so lucky. Graeme McDowell, for example, who won the US Open in 2010, missed out on a playoff by a single stroke. The Cleeks GC player teed it up in Dallas at the same time as Garcia, but the former Ryder Cup star played the last 11 holes in three over to come up agonisingly short.

Nevertheless, LIV Golf is still represented by plenty of talent in the Major. Who's to say another won't claim the trophy by Sunday evening?

Here is the full list of LIV Golf players at the US Open.

LIV GOLF PLAYERS AT THE 2023 US OPEN

• Abraham Ancer
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Sergio Garcia
• Dustin Johnson
• Martin Kaymer
• Brooks Koepka
• Phil Mickelson
• Sebastian Munoz
• Joaquin Niemann
• Carlos Ortiz
• Mito Pereira
• Thomas Pieters
• David Puig
• Patrick Reed
• Cameron Smith

After LIV Golf failed to secure a TV deal for its inaugural season in 2022, its tournaments were broadcast free on YouTube. It has now been announced that the remaining events in the current League season will also be broadcast on the platform, albeit with a significant difference in some markets. 

Starting with the LIV Golf DC tournament, viewers will be able to watch the action on YouTube in the US, Canada, Mexico and South Korea for $3 per day. Meanwhile, in the UK, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Japan, fans will be able to stream the tournaments free of charge on the platform.

The reason why it is necessary to pay in some countries and not others is because in the markets where payment is needed, LIV has broadcast deals and paywalls ensure those contracts are protected.

In January, LIV Golf announced a multi-year TV deal with The CW Network ensuring live coverage of the action on Saturdays and Sundays on both TV and on CW Network app in the US, with coverage on Friday available only through the app.

That arrangement is unaffected by the move, while fans will still be able to watch the action through the LIV Golf Plus app.

LIV Golf's Chief Media Officer Will Staeger explained coverage is returning the YouTube to reach as many fans as possible. He said: “Expanding the availability of LIV Golf’s live coverage on YouTube marks another milestone in the innovative ways in which we are making our groundbreaking competition available to viewers. 

"LIV Golf is a global league comprised of some of the game’s biggest stars, and this supports our goal of bringing the sport we love to more people in more places around the world.”

There have been teething problems with The CW Network’s broadcasting of LIV Golf events, notably during the most recent in Tulsa, where the US station pulled coverage before its thrilling finale, which saw Dustin Johnson secure victory over Cameron Smith and Branden Grace in a playoff.

The CW Network has since vowed to avoid a repeat of that gaffe. Meanwhile, it has also been reported that LIV Golf has stopped releasing viewing figures of its tournaments via the broadcaster.

This week's tournament at Washington DC's Trump National Golf Club sees PGA Champion Brooks Koepka in action as he looks for his third win on the circuit. Following that, the action moves on to Valderrama in Spain at the end of June.

LIV Golf is back again, this time for the first renewal of the LIV Golf Washington DC event.

After Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship last week in Oak Hill, LIV Golf will be hoping for a big week in Potomac Falls, Virginia, as a star-studded lineup competes for this week's big event.

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2023 LIV Golf Washington DC Odds: Who are the Favorites To Win This Week?

Now that you have all the information you need to claim the very best sports betting offers, ahead of this LIV Golf Washington DC event, we can now compare the best odds with OddsChecker, to see who the favorites are at Trump National Golf Club.

• Brooks Koepka +850
• Cameron Smith +850
• Dustin Johnson +1200
• Bryson DeChambeau +1600
• Mito Pereira +1600
• Patrick Reed +1600
• Talor Gooch +1600
• Charles Howell III +1600
• Joaquin Niemann +1800

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Here are some thoughts from OddsChecker's, Tom Jacobs on this week's event.

Phil Mickelson has claimed that LIV Golf is the best circuit for players hoping to be competitive in the Majors because of its lighter schedule than alternatives.

The LIV Golf season is played over just 14 tournaments and that's a quality the six-time Major winner thinks works in LIV Golf’s favour when it comes to the year’s four showpiece tournaments. 

He wrote on Twitter: “Love LIV or hate it, it’s the best way/Tour to be your best in the majors. Enough events to keep you sharp, fresh and ready, yet not be worn down from too many tournaments or obligations. 14 LIV events, 34 weeks left open to prepare for the 4 majors. Fact.”

There is plenty of evidence to suggest Mickelson has a valid point. Before the first Major of the year, The Masters at Augusta National, many wrote off the chances of LIV Golf players, claiming they would not be at their best with fewer tournaments and the perception that the events on the circuit lacked the intensity of those elsewhere.

Mickelson was one of several LIV Golf players who made a mockery of that argument when he finished tied for second with another player on the circuit, Brooks Koepka. Not far beneath them on the leaderboard was another LIV Golf player, Patrick Reed, who finished tied for fourth.

Any thoughts that would be a flash in the pan were well and truly debunked in the PGA Championship when, this time, Koepka went all the way to the title at Oak Hill Country Club, while fellow LIV Golf players Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith also finished in the top 10.

Of course, there are still two Majors to go, with next month’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club and July’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool sure to offer different challenges to the players than the two that have taken place so far.

However, considering a current LIV Golf player has just won the Major with arguably the strongest field of all, there’s every reason to think its players will perform well in the ones that remain, regardless of how much the LIV Golf schedule has to do with it.

Bryson DeChambeau has enjoyed a welcome return to form over the past month, with the American producing his best result in a Major Championship since his victory at the 2020 US Open.

At the PGA Championship, the American carded rounds of 66, 71, 70 and 70 to finish in a tie for fourth, and six shots back of his fellow LIV player, Brooks Koepka. Following the tournament, DeChambeau was rightfully feeling good about not just his performance, but also those from the LIV Golf circuit, with the 29-year-old hoping the last two Major championships have shown that they're not there to make up the numbers.

"It validates everything we’ve said from the beginning," stated DeChambeau in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated. "We’re competing at the highest level. And we have the ability to win Major championships.

"I really hope people can see the light now that we’re trying to provide golf with something new and fresh. At the end of the day, both sides are going to have to come together at some point. It’s for the good of the game."

DeChambeau, who will be one of the 11 LIV players featuring at the next Major championship, the US Open, finished with the words: "We’ve got a lot of great players out there," with the American now turning his attention to LIV's next event at Trump National Golf Club Washington DC.

Over the past two Major championships, LIV players have featured heavily in contention. At the Masters in April, Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed finished inside the top 4, with Koepka, DeChambeau and Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith, all part of the top 10 at Oak Hill.

Along with DeChambeau, champion Koepka also added: "I definitely think it helps LIV, but I'm more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you. Yeah, it's a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I'm out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship. I'm just happy to take this home for the third time."

The moment has arrived perhaps quicker than anybody expected. A LIV Golfer has won a Major championship.

Brooks Koepka sealed a two-stroke victory at Oak Hill Country Club to pick up his fifth Major title and third PGA Championship after years of injury struggle and less than 12 months after leaving the PGA Tour for Greg Norman's Saudi-backed start-up circuit.

Once the full roster was confirmed last summer, many fans may have only thought a few of the LIV players were still capable of winning golf's biggest events and that the likelihood of that happening would dwindle as time went on and their games deteriorated in the life of Golf, But Louder.

Cameron Smith had just won the 150th Open (while still a PGA Tour player) and reached 2nd in the world so he was never discounted, neither really was two-time Major champion Dustin Johnson or even Joaquin Niemann - who started 63-63 to win Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational at Riviera last February to crack the world's top 20.

Brooks Koepka, though? He was now 'washed up', like most of the other LIV players, injured and never going to get back to the player he once was - that's why he took the money after all! It was this kind of narrative that many golf fans took and it turns out they were completely wrong.

LIV's events certainly have more of an exhibition feel to them. They are shorter. There is no cut, with guaranteed six-figure prize money going to the last-placed player even if they shoot three consecutive 85s. Would the players be bothered to practice like they used to when there's guaranteed money up for grabs? Surely it's not good preparation for four round, demanding Major championship examinations.

While most level headed people probably took all of these assumptions with a healthy pinch of salt, they were still questions out there in the open and what Brooks Koepka has done is silence them. Make no mistake about it, it's a huge win for LIV Golf.

There might even be an argument now that LIV's events are helping the players ahead of the Majors. They're only 54-holes so players remain fresh and without the worry of missing a cut, players get a guaranteed three rounds of competitive action. LIV players also may be fresher, as they're playing fewer tournaments and fewer rounds.

In 2023 so far, there has already been eight designated events on the PGA Tour plus two Majors, meaning that most have played 10+ times already this year. The LIV guys have played ever-so-slightly less with six LIV events, the Saudi International, maybe one or two Asian Tour events dotted in and the two Majors. But those LIV events have all been 54-holes, not 72...so maybe it is helping them stay fresh?

After some quick months, I counted that Scottie Scheffler has already played 11 times this year, 45 rounds, and Jordan Spieth has played 13 times and also 45 rounds. Brooks Koepka, on the other hand, has played 10 events, six of which were 54-holers, for a total of 32 rounds. 

Have fewer rounds helped or hindered the LIV guys? Who knows, but their performances in the first two Majors of the year have certainly been solid to say the least. At The Masters where Koepka and Mickelson were T2nd, 12 of the 18 made the cut and at the PGA, 11 of the 16 made the weekend.

It's probably aided Koepka with his injuries, and the PGA Tour never really got him excited anyway. He's made it very clear that he only really does care about the Majors.

Brooks Koepka's win at Oak Hill is undoubtedly massive for the league and you'd think it would give some extra belief to his fellow players to go and do something similar at the next two Majors coming at the US Open in June and Open Championship in July.

Koepka was refusing to be drawn on whether it validates LIV, but did admit it's a big deal for the 54-hole tour.

"Yeah, I definitely think it helps LIV, but I'm more interested in my own self right now, to be honest with you," he said.

"Yeah, it's a huge thing for LIV, but at the same time I'm out here competing as an individual at the PGA Championship. I'm just happy to take this home for the third time.

"I think I was the first guy to win two LIV events. To win a major is always a big deal no matter where you're playing.

"All it does, I just think, I guess, validates it for myself. I guess maybe if anybody doubted it from Augusta or whatever, any doubts anybody on TV might have or whatever, I'm back, I'm here."

So LIV has undoubtedly been boosted. It bolsters its case for Official World Golf Ranking points, it perhaps spurs its players on to go and get into Major contention themselves and it maybe even makes the league a more enticing proposition for big names who are already qualified for Majors but are worried the format might see their games tail off and Major hopes end.

It could even signal fresh investment from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, LIV's backers, who will be excited to see ones of their players on top of the golfing world.

It has also brought the golf world a little closer. Yes there are court cases going on left, right and center but seeing a LIV winner across the social media of the PGA of America, the Golf Channel, Sky Sports, websites across the globe and even on the PGA Tour's social feeds may just go a very small way in mending bridges. Koepka might even be on Team USA at the Ryder Cup in Rome, now, too. That's co-existing, isn't it?

Does Koepka's win make LIV Golf more money? Probably. Does it increase viewership? Maybe a little bit. Whether it brings in thousands and thousands of extra Smash GC fans and viewers on the CW Network is debatable but certainly on the face of it, having one of its players win a Major is a huge deal for the league's credibility.

Brooks Koepka sealed his fifth Major title and third Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill to mark a monumental moment in the game and for LIV Golf.

After his and Phil Mickelson's T2nd finishes at The Masters, Koepka won the PGA Championship by two strokes to become the first LIV player to win a Major whilst signed to the league.

Could LIV players still play 72-hole events? Are they washed up? Those were just a couple of questions asked prior to Major season and Koepka well and truly answered them at Oak Hill.

The LIV CEO Greg Norman congratulated Koepka and praised his players. "As for the @livgolf_league players they belong and the Majors and golf knows," the Australian wrote on Twitter.

In second-place on the LIV Golf leaderboard was Bryson DeChambeau, who recorded a T4th finish at three-under-par. He was two ahead of Cameron Smith at one-under, with the trio of Koepka, DeChambeau and Smith all featuring inside the top 10.

At Augusta last month, 12 of the 18 made the cut and 11 of the 16 LIV players have made the cut this week at Oak Hill. The five players to miss the weekend were Brendan Steele, Anirban Lahiri, Joaquin Niemann, Talor Gooch - who now looks set to miss the US Open - and Abraham Ancer.

Take a look at how all of the LIV players got on at the 2023 PGA Championship:

LIV Golf final leaderboard at the PGA Championship

• 1st: Brooks Koepka -9
• T4th: Bryson DeChambeau -3
• T9th: Cameron Smith -1
• T18th: Mito Pereira, Patrick Reed +2
• T29th: Harold Varner III +5
• T40th: Thomas Pieters +6
• 54th: Dean Burmester +8
• T55th: Dustin Johnson +9
• T58th: Phil Mickelson +10
• T62nd: Sihwan Kim +11
• CUT LINE
• Brendan Steele +6
• Anirban Lahiri +7
•  Joaquin Niemann +8
• Talor Gooch +10
• Abraham Ancer +11

Michael Block has admitted that 'it feels like my life has changed' after the club pro sensationally climbed inside the top ten of the leaderboard at the PGA Championship following an outstanding three days at the tournament.

The 46-year-old, who is the head pro at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf club in California, was speaking during an on-course interview in his third round at Oak Hill and also revealed that he 'hadn't accepted a new client in five years.'

Block, who has competed in five PGA Championships and two US Opens, made the cut this weekend after going through the first 36 holes at level par, even after hitting a nightmare shank on the par 3 fifth. 

After shooting a solid 70 on Thursday, he followed that up with a 70 on Friday, rolling in birdies on the 10th, 12th and 14th and wrapped up his third round today with yet another 70, after scoring four birdies during today's round.  

Speaking to CBS Sports, the club pro, who made the cut for the first time in his last six Major events, admitted he felt like he was 'on cloud nine'.

"To say the least I'm living the dream," he said. "I hope I'm living the dream for all the Rochester folks out here because I'll tell you why. 

"The support I've been getting from the people in Rochester is absolutely unbelievable and honestly all across the country. It's an amazing experience and I'm living the dream.

"My life feels like it's changed a little bit. Honestly to tell you the truth. But I'm still on cloud nine and having a good time."

And he has certainly gained many new fans this week, impressing with his performance to go above some of the biggest names in the game after 54 holes, including the likes of Major winners Cameron Smith and Hideki Matsuyama.

Block charges $125 dollars for a 45 minute lesson and was questioned by CBS Sports commentator Trevor Immelman on whether that price will be going up, considering his performance this week.

The 2008 Masters champion said: "I hear at you're charging $125 dollars for a 45 minute lesson. Can I go ahead and lock that in now or is that price going up on Monday?"

Block replied: "So actually Trev it's $150 for an hour and I haven't accepted a new client in about five years. 

"I give a couple of lessons and I've learned that the people I give lessons to are the people I like to hang out with. 

"You know the first 10 to 15 years of instructing I would say yes to everybody because I was trying to put a dollar in the bank and raise a couple of boys and be home to my wife.

"Now I've been fortunate enough to play some decent golf in the last couple of years and make enough money to where I don't have to grind it out on the range all day long. But now I usually give about two to three lessons a week to people I love to be around."

In fact, he often plays socially with Patrick Cantlay and Beau Hossler and competed in the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. 

It's a week he will surely never forget, with Block now having the best position by a club pro at the PGA Championship in 35 years after 54 holes.

And that is an impressive achievement, considering how difficult it has been to score at Oak Hill, with today's torrential rain making it even more difficult out there. 

Speaking on the conditions and the course, Block said: "It's been brutal. The rough is just, it's something unlike anything I've ever seen. 

"When it got wet it's just insanely hard. I'll tell you what, this course has dried out beautifully. I was worried when watching it on TV earlier but what they did with the drainage here is amazing and the greens are perfect.

"I just want to get on the green and make another put here and I'll be a happy camper."

Not long after that, he walked up to the green on the 14th and tapped in a birdie, before hitting yet another one straight after on the 15th. 

The CW Network has vowed not to drop coverage of anymore LIV Golf League events before they have reached their conclusion following backlash after the breakaway circuit's most recent event in Tulsa.

Dustin Johnson prevailed in a three-way playoff against Cameron Smith and Branden Grace at Cedar Ridge Country Club, but viewers in some regions of America were left dismayed after CW affiliates pulled it off air with three holes of the regulation 54 still to play.

Instead, TV viewers were served old episodes of shows such as Family Feud or Penn & Teller, with many fans taking to social media to voice their criticism, while Jim Nantz appeared to aim a subtle dig at the perceived gaffe during the first round of the PGA Championship.

However, the CW Network has promised this will be an isolated incident according to the Sports Business Journal.

"The CW confirmed with the affiliate body - all 210 local stations - that in the event that this happens again, all stations will continue carrying the LIV Tournament through to completion," the network said in a statement released by LIV. 

"LIV Golf and CW Sports are learning together what will delight our fans and grow our franchises, and we're proud that we are nimble and able to make adjustments as these learnings are made available."

The controversial Saudi-funded breakaway tour launched in June of last year at the Centurion Club just outside London. It was free to watch on YouTube or the LIV Golf website in what Greg Norman described as the "beta season", before a deal with the CW Network was announced ahead of the first event of the expanded league schedule for 2023.

As part of the agreement, only the weekend action will be broadcast live on TV in the US, with Friday's first round available on the CW app. Johnson's LIV Golf Tulsa win was his first of 2023 after topping the season-long individual standings in 2022.

Jim Nantz appeared to aim a dig at LIV Golf as Dustin Johnson began his first round at the 2023 PGA Championship.

After a slow start to the season, Johnson picked up his first win on the breakaway circuit at last week's event in Tulsa, but some viewers in the US were left dismayed when the CW network pulled the live coverage off air before the thrilling climax.

Johnson went on to prevail at the first hole of a playoff against Cameron Smith and Branden Grace, but instead of that exciting finale, some regions in America were served an old episode of Family Feud or Penn & Teller.

In LIV's defence, the action was delayed by two hours following some inclement weather and was still available on the CW app, but Nantz, a veteran CBS broadcaster, couldn't resist the chance to take a subtle swipe at the perceived gaffe.

"Not sure if you had a chance to see it, but he was a winner last week in Tulsa in a playoff," Nantz said, as Johnson was announced onto the first tee at Oak Hill.

It's the second Major in a row where Nantz has been caught making a head-scratching reference to the Saudi-funded league. At The Masters, Brooks Koepka was approaching his third shot on the par-5 15th during the third round when Natz said: "There he is right on the C.W., the crosswalk."

Whether that was meant as a sleight after LIV signed a deal with the CW network back in February is anyone's guess, but it's hard to recall a time previously when Nantz would have used such terminology to describe a crosswalk.

The 64-year-old has been critical of LIV Golf in the past, saying he felt "betrayal" when it launched in June last year at the Centurion Club just outside of London. Since then, there have been calls for the warring tribes to commence peace talks, while relations between players have remained largely unaffected, but that doesn't appear to have changed Nantz's position on the saga.

What Is Cameron Smith's Net Worth?

Australian Cameron Smith has achieved a lot in the game of golf despite being only around 30 years old. Major winner, multiple-time PGA Tour winner and Presidents Cup player, world number two. But how much is the popular Australian worth?

Well a specific number is tricky to estimate but there have been reports it could be as high as $50 million. Of course this is an estimate but something more concrete is that Smith was ranked 17th on the 2023 Forbes list of the highest paid athletes. 

According to Forbes he made $73 million in 2023 with $67 million of that coming from salary and on-field winnings, or on-course we should say. Whilst $6 million came from off the field sponsorships. He ranked fifth amongst golfers in 2023 for earnings behind Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

Smith signed with LIV Golf in 2022 with his signing on fee rumored to be around the $100m mark because around the time of signing he also became The Open Champion. Across his four LIV events in 2022, Smith won more than $7 million in prize money, and he would win LIV Golf Chicago as part of that. 

On the PGA Tour Smith saw a lot of success, chief among which was his Open Championship victory in 2022. With the one-stroke win over Cameron Young he won $2,500,000 and in the same year he also won The Players Championship as well, taking home a cool $3,600,000. 

Smith also has four other PGA Tour wins to his name. His first came at the 2017 Zurich Classic playing alongside Jonas Blixt and he won the same event in 2021 alongside Marc Leishman. Smith won $1,022,400 and $1,069,300 for each win. 

He also won the 2020 Sony Open and 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions with cheques of $1,188,000 and $1,476,000 respectively.

Given how popular and successful Smith is, he has several sponsors that work with him. For example he uses Titleist golf clubs throughout his setup as well as a Titleist ball. He also wears FootJoy golf shoes.

Elsewhere he uses Original Penguin apparel and as you can see from the image above, has partnerships with Citi, Easypost and Bakertilly. 

For more content on the Australian, learn more about his team; like who his caddie Sam Pinfold is, or his girlfriend Shanel Naoum.