Cameron Smith blasts critics before US PGA: "A bit ridiculous really"

Cameron Smith says he believed LIV Golf silenced their critics following The Masters.

16 May 2023

Cameron Smith blasts critics before US PGA: "A bit ridiculous really"

LIV Golf's Cameron Smith says he believes the series' critics were silenced at The Masters.

Smith, 29, was one of 18 LIV Golf players who teed it up at Augusta National last month for the season's first major championship.

While the Australian could only provide a tie for 34th, but a few of his fellow members of the Saudi-backed circuit were able to put on an impressive showing in Georgia.

Brooks Koepka, after leading for much of the tournament, finished in a tie for second with Phil Mickelson, while fellow LIV Golf member Patrick Reed finished in a tie for fourth.

Eighteen LIV Golf players were listed in the field again for this week's PGA Championship in Rochester, New York, though Martin Kaymer has since withdrawn.

Smith is coming into the tournament off a solid performance in Oklahoma for the LIV Golf Tulsa event where he lost to Dustin Johnson in a three-man playoff.

And as LIV Golf and PGA Tour players meet for the second time in 2023, Smith says he believes that LIV Golf players silenced critics after their performance last month.

"I'm really not sure what people were expecting to be totally honest with you," Smith said in an interview with Bunkered magazine.

Smith continued:

"It was almost as if they thought that we'd joined this new league and forgot how to play golf, which is a bit ridiculous really.

"So, yeah, I mean it was great to see some of the guys doing so well at The Masters but, honestly, it wasn't that big a surprise to me. I see how good everybody is every week. They're world-class golfers, proven major champions in many instances, and they all still work their arses off.

"This idea that they're not as motivated as they were or that they don't put in the graft like they used to just isn't the case."

He added that he believes The Masters was a solid week for LIV Golf:

"We needed it, to be honest. It proved a lot of people wrong and hopefully silenced a few critics. It feels as though there's real momentum with us just now and you would have seen that in Adelaide, for example.

"That was a really great week. It was amazing to see so many people out there, enjoying the golf, loving the vibe and having fun."

The PGA Championship is set for 18-21 May at Oak Hill Country Club. LIV Golf will resume its season a week later with an event in Washington, D.C.

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