Cameron Smith has admitted that LIV Golf fields are "not as deep" as the PGA Tour's, although the Australian maintained that the Saudi-backed circuit has many players who can play "some really serious golf" as he called on his fellow players to contend at this week's Masters.
Smith joined LIV Golf for a reported fee north of $100m after the FedEx Cup last year, with his decision seemingly made after his 150th Open triumph at St Andrews where he failed to deny the rumors in his winning press conference. The 29-year-old is one of 18 LIV players in the field this week and notably the only one who had a pre-tournament press conference.
Speaking to the media on Monday, the 2020 Masters runner-up admitted that LIV fields aren't as strong as the PGA Tours, said that LIV players "needed" to be up there to show people they play real golf and maintained he is "really, really happy" with the decision he made last year.
The World No.6 arrives at Augusta frustrated with his form after a 29th-place finish in Orlando last week, coming after a 26th in Tucson and a 6th in Mayakoba.
"I think for me, I'm just trying to play the best golf I can. For me it's frustration when I'm playing like this on any tour," Smith said after being asked if his relevance is dwindling following his decision to join LIV Golf and leave the PGA Tour.
"As the LIV Tour grows and the fields get deeper and stronger and all that stuff unfolds, it's just going to be better and better. I can't wait to see it unfold personally.
"I think the competition's there. I just don't think it's as deep. Like I said before, we have lots of good guys that have won lots of really prestigious tournaments, Majors. There's definitely lot of guys that keep you on your toes, and I don't think that's a problem. I think I'm just not playing really good golf at the moment, and I'm trying to fix that."
Smith says there are some tournaments that he has missed after his move to the Greg Norman-fronted circuit, where he captains the all-Aussie Ripper GC franchise. He notably missed his title defence at The Players Championship as well as designated events including the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Match Play.
"Yeah, for sure there's been a couple of tournaments that I really have enjoyed in the past that I feel like I've missed out on," he said. "But at the same time, I've made my bed and I'm happy, very, very happy where I am. I'm happy to sleep in the bed I'm in basically.
"Yeah, I do miss certain tournaments, certain golf courses. I'm looking forward to this week playing against the guys for sure. But I don't know if I necessarily miss playing against any certain guys."
He believes it's important that LIV players make their presence known on the leaderboard this week, saying "we need to be up there" to show people that they play "real" golf after concerns over the 54-hole, no-cut format.
"I think it's just important for LIV guys to be up there because I think we need to be up there," he said. "I think there's a lot of chatter about these guys don't play real golf; these guys don't play real golf courses. For sure, I'll be the first one to say, the fields aren't as strong. I'm the first one to say that.
"But we've still got a lot of guys up there that can play some really serious golf, and we compete against each other hard week-in and week-out and we're trying to do the same things that we did six months ago. It's nice.
"It's a good feeling to have that competition, and it's good to see Brooks win last week. He's playing some really good golf again. Yeah, I think we just need a good, strong finish.
"I just think there's too much rubbish going on, basically. For me, like I said out there, I spent an hour out there and seen lots of familiar faces, lots of smiles and hugs, and it's been nice. I don't think there's any kind of hatred going on between the players. We are all happy where we are, and I'm just as happy for the guys winning out on the PGA Tour as I am for the LIV golfers, as well."
The Aussie also revealed that he has had another set of clothes made up for the event just incase he gets a tap on the shoulder from a Green Jacket asking him to stop wearing the logo.
"I have another set of clothes made up this week without them," he said. "We haven't really heard much from Augusta National about the logos, and for me personally, I'm really proud of where I'm at and what I'm doing. Unless it's a problem for these guys, I'm going to wear it."
Smith has played in six Masters tournaments and he has a great record already at Augusta. He was T5th in 2018, T2nd in 2020, T10th in 2021 and T3rd in 2022.
