Rory McIlroy reached out to Cameron Smith in an attempt to make sure he knew all the facts before making a final LIV Golf decision amid big talk that the Australian is set to be the next high-profile signing for the breakaway tour.
McIltroy and Smith - who battled it out for the Claret Jug last month at St Andrews- will play together in the opening round of the Tour Championship at East Lake. It provides fascinating drama at the event, with McIlroy a keen advocate of the PGA Tour while Smith's move to LIV Golf appears imminent.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has lured a number of players to the breakaway series since it rose to prominence over the last few months, and Smith appears to be the next in line. The Australian remained coy over his links to LIV after he claimed his maiden major title at the 150th edition of The Open.
The 29-year-old has reportedly signed for the Saudi-backed venture for a reported £82 million. On Wednesday, McIlroy revealed he had spoken to Smith about the move in an attempt to retain his talent on the PGA Tour.
“I had a conversation with Cameron Smith two days after the Open,” McIlroy said of the the Australian at a PGA Tour press conference on Wednesday.
“Firstly, I wanted to congratulate him, but also I wanted guys that are thinking one way or another – honestly I don't care if they leave or not; it's not going to make a difference to me – but I would at least like people to make a decision that is completely informed and basically know this is what's coming down the pipeline. This is what you may be leaving behind.
“I just don't want people making decisions hearing information from one side and not from another. So I think that's sort of been my whole thing this entire time. I've always said guys can do whatever they want. Guys can make a decision that they feel is best for themselves and their families. But I want guys to make decisions based on all of the facts.
“Sometimes I don't think some guys made those decisions based on having all the facts in front of them.”
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The lucrative LIV Golf series is funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and it has divided golf, leaving the PGA and DP World Tours fractured after the new series poached some of the sports biggest names. Several of the world’s most prominent stars have decided to switch to LIV Golf, including the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson.
The PGA Tour announced a number of changes this week to make the circuit more attractive to the best players in golf who want to build their legacy by competing on the traditional circuit. McIlroy praised the changes and insisted there is room for both LIV Golf and the Tour to coexist in the professional arena.
“A bunch of tours have coexisted over the last I don't know how many years,” McIlroy said. “You've had the PGA Tour, the European Tour, the Asian Tour, the Sunshine – there's a million different golf tours that have all been able to coexist in some way.
“There's levels to it, right, and everyone is trying to make it to the top level of professional golf, which is the PGA Tour. Look, the PGA Tour are going to do what they're going to do. LIV are going to do what they're going to do. I think at this point, Jay (Monahan) said it best, the PGA Tour are just trying to control what they can control and try to put forward the best product possible for people to tune into, for sponsors to get excited about, for TV to get excited about, and for the players to get excited about.
“I think having the top players in the world playing together more often and competing against each other more … I think it's what everyone wants. It's what the players want. It's what the fans want, most importantly. And I think once we solve for that, a lot of the rest of the stuff sort of takes care of itself.”
It remains to be seen when Smith would link up with the LIV Golf series, where former Europe Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson won the third event - which took place in Bedminster - to earn a £3.37m payout. The prize money was substantially more than the £2.08m awarded to Smith for securing the coveted Open title last month.
Players who have joined the LIV Golf series were handed immediate and indefinite bans from the PGA Tour.
