LIV Golf continues to dominate the news circles in the sport's spheres. The contentious Saudi-backed series has reportedly recruited Open winner Cameron Smith - but he may have more luck filling up his calendar than others on the series.
The PGA and DP World Tours have moved to ban LIV-affiliated players from competing in their events, but Australian players look to be in a different situation altogether.
The PGA of Australia confirmed this week that players from the country who choose to play on the LIV Golf series will be welcome to play in events on home soil - including the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship.
LIV Golf: Australian players allowed to return to Australian PGA events
PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kikman was quoted by Sky Sports saying:
The players coming home to play - as long as there is no conflicting event - will be welcome to play.
The Australian players that come home from wherever they're playing at the moment, if they're members of our organisation they'll be eligible to play and that's been discussed with the other tours.
This is big news for world number 82 Matt Jones, and the other five Australian players (Jediah Morgan, Wade Ormsby, Travis Smyth, Blake Windred, and Kevin Yuan) signed up to LIV Golf so far.
The big rumour in recent weeks has surrounded Open champion Cameron Smith, who sits at number 2 in the world golf rankings and has been strongly linked with a move to LIV. In the immediate aftermath of his dramatic Open win, Smith angrily dismissed suggestions he would move to the breakaway series. Recent reports have suggested an entirely different story.
Rumours this week suggested that Smith has signed a $100 million deal to play with LIV Golf. Despite the high profile of the likes of Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia, claiming the world's number two golfer and most recent major winner would be a huge statement of intent from LIV.
1 August 2021; Cameron Smith of Australia plays his tee shot on the first hole during round 4 of the men's individual stroke play at the Kasumigaseki Country Club during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The breakaway series has caused great controversy, being widely condemned by the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, despite some of golf's biggest names defecting to the cash-laden series.
The Sky report suggests that LIV CEO Greg Norman is hoping to host three events in Australia in 2023. When confirming that Aussie players would be allowed to take part in events in the country, PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kikman gave his thoughts on LIV Golf:
Some people are going to love it and some people aren't, but if it comes to Australia we've got to be in a position where we stay focused on our strategy. Is it going to be good for the game? What I don't want and what I don't like to hear about and read about at the moment is people arguing what is good for the game and what is not. If fans get out and see some golf under a different format, that's up to them.
We look set to have an ever-present LIV debate in the golf world for the coming years, but this news for Australian players is a breakthrough the series was in dire need of. The viability of the series will be far greater if players can play regular events elsewhere alongside the intermittent LIV events.
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