"It hurts!" Cameron Smith reveals his number one REGRET since joining LIV Golf

Cameron Smith's dream of moving to World No.1 has been halted since his move to LIV Golf.

02 Feb 2023

"It hurts!" Cameron Smith reveals his ONE BIG REGRET about moving to LIV Golf — "It hurts!" Cameron Smith reveals his ONE BIG REGRET about moving to LIV…

Cameron Smith has revealed his heartache at not being able to challenge for Rory McIlroy's World No.1 ranking following his big-money move to LIV Golf last season.

Smith, speaking ahead of this week's LIV Golf-backed Saudi International on the Asian Tour, believes the current Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system is "obsolete".

This is seemingly a general feeling from many of the best players in the world right now, especially PGA Tour star Jon Rahm, who recently labelled the OWGR as a "joke".

Smith has not fallen quite so rapidly down the ladder as some of his LIV Golf peers such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau, who are now all outside the the top 40 in the world, but he has still slipped back nonetheless.

The reigning Open champion knows it's a matter of time until he's out of the world's top 10 given LIV Golf remains shut out of receiving any world ranking points as a result of its 54-hole, no-cut format.

Smith got close to chasing down Scottie Scheffler for the World No.1 position after etching his name on the Claret Jug for the first time in July 2022, but he then moved to LIV Golf to eradicate all hope of achieving one of his career goals.

At least right now.

He was second in the world when he moved to LIV Golf, and he now looks on from fourth as he begins his 2023 campaign.

McIlroy then ousted Scheffler as World No.1 in October 2022 when successfully defending the CJ Cup on the PGA Tour.

While few can deny McIlroy deserves his place at the top of world order right now, Smith believes the OWGR is very much now out of date.

Smith said:

"I've tried to take it not that badly to be honest.

"I think when you rock up to a tournament, you know who you have to beat, whether there's a world ranking or not.

"There's generally seven of eight guys that are in that field that you know are going to put up a pretty good fight.

"For sure, it hurts.

"I feel as though I was really close to getting to [World] No.1 and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off.

"But kind of the longer that this stuff goes on, I think the more obsolete those rankings become. That's just the long and short of it, I think.

"Do we need them [the world rankings]? It would be nice, but like I said, you know who you've got to beat when you get on the golf course."

The current OWGR system might be a 'PUNCH' in the gut for Smith, but he is at least looking forward to getting his year off to a start in Saudi Arabia this week at the Saudi International, an event which is heavily backed by LIV Golf on the Asian Tour.

Smith's all-Australian team is also set to have a name change ahead of the first LIV Golf League event in Mexico in two weeks time, something he has been excited to work on over the Christmas break.

He's also buzzing to compete in front of his adoring home fans at LIV Golf Adelaide, which takes place two weeks after The Masters from April 24 to 26.

Smith said:

"I guess it's been an off-season for golf but kind of seemed like I was on the phone every day talking about something to do with the team, so it's been really exciting.

"It's for sure been a little bit different and something that I'm not really used to, but I feel as though the longer it progresses, the more I'm getting used to it.

"I can't wait for us to start up in Mexico. I think we'll have a great year, and for sure looking forward to that event in Adelaide. I think it'll be a ripping tournament."

Here's the full LIV Golf League schedule.

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