{"id":462358,"date":"2026-02-11T14:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/462358\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:56:12","slug":"cam-smith-breaks-his-silence-on-rejecting-pga-tours-return-offer-was-veryweird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/462358\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Smith Breaks His Silence on Rejecting PGA Tour’s Return Offer: ‘Was VeryWeird’"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIV Golf has been going through a tumultuous time of late. With the likes of Brooks Koepka<\/a> and Patrick Reed<\/a> jumping ship, there has been a lot of speculation about the other LIV Golf members. Thankfully, despite all the rumors of joining the PGA Tour, Cam Smith has decided to stay loyal to the PIF-funded league.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit surprising. I definitely didn\u2019t think that that was going to be the case. For years, since we\u2019ve been out here, it has felt like we would never go back, and I was comfortable with that. It was a very weird scenario and one I wasn\u2019t expecting. I still don\u2019t really know what to think about it, to be honest, in the grand scheme of things,\u201d said Smith in an interview with Today\u2019s Golfer.<\/p>\n

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The speculations about Smith\u2019s leaving the league started due to the Returning Member Program. In order to reinstate Brooks Koepka, the PGA Tour introduced the new rule. As per the program, athletes who won a major and Players Championship between 2022 and 2025 can return to the PGA Tour immediately.<\/p>\n

While Koepka was one of the qualifying players to accept the offer, there were three more who qualified. Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cam Smith. Soon, rumors about whether Smith wanted to take the opportunity and make a fresh startstarted circulating.<\/p>\n

Especially considering his poor form in recent times. Smith missed the cut to all four majors. A feat which he would like to forget. Additionally, the three-time Australian PGA champion also had a hometown horror show when he missed a seventh straight cut at the event. He also recorded his worst-ever performance in LIV Golf, finishing outside the top 10 for the first time.<\/p>\n

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However, despite all the clouds of uncertainty, Smith clarified that he has no plans to exit LIV Golf. Captaining the Ripper GC team, Smith is now looking forward to focus in the 2026 season and making amends for the slump previously.<\/p>\n

Although he is not moving to the PGA Tour, Smith supports Koepka\u2019s decision fully. Speaking with Today\u2019s Golfer, the Australian star pointed out that if Koepka is happy joining the PGA Tour, then he has nothing against him.<\/p>\n

Not only has Smith decided to stay with LIV Golf, but he has also spoken highly about the talent the Saudi-backed league has. Alongside showering praise for Brooks Koepka, Smith also praised z young Australian golf phenom who recently made waves in his debut LIV Golf event.<\/p>\n

Cam Smith praised fellow LIV Golf pro, stating he can take the spot of Scottie Scheffler<\/p>\n

As Cam Smith begins this new season as the captain of the Rippers GC, he has showered praises on the new joinee of the team. The 23-year-old Australian golfer, Elvis Smylie, has achieved the historic feat of becoming the first player since 2022 to win in his league debut. This achievement left even the captain stunned.<\/p>\n

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Sharing his take on the talent Smylie possesses, Smith shared, \u201cI think Elvis wants to be one of the best players in the world. He proved it this week,\u201d Smith said after the event. The crazy thing is, I still think he\u2019s got a lot of improving to go, which is pretty scary, really, for the rest of us, because he waxed us this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mandatory<\/p>\n

Mandatory Credits: @elvissmylie\/Instagram<\/p>\n

He even went on to claim, \u201cI genuinely think he can be the best golfer in the world. He\u2019s got all the tools of the trade. He just needs to keep doing what he\u2019s doing and knuckle down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smylie made a historic debut for the team at the 2026 season opener, LIV Golf Riyadh, which kicked off on February 4 and concluded on February 7. Smylie stepped into the league and claimed the coveted individual title by one stroke over Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n

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Now that his mentor and captain has already judged his potential, the days ahead will determine whether Smith\u2019s prophecy turns into reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf has been going through a tumultuous time of late. With the likes of Brooks Koepka and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[170371,18939,18938,427,13755,10658,3332,215580,99],"class_list":["post-462358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-australian-open-golf","tag-brooks-koepka","tag-cameron-smith","tag-golf","tag-jon-rahm","tag-liv-golf","tag-pga-tour","tag-royal-melbourne-golf-club","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}