Cameron Smith has admitted he has been left 'hurt' after missing out on the chance to become the world No. 1 after moving to LIV Golf.
Smith became one of LIV's biggest signings in 2022 after signing last summer. The Australian star was one of golf's hottest stars last year, having been crowned Open champion in July.
Just weeks after becoming the Champion Golfer of The Year, Smith made the controversial decision to join fellow Australian Greg Norman in signing on the dotted line with LIV. Despite playing just five events on the Saudi-funded circuit, Smith still managed to earn an eye-watering £6 million in winnings.
His lucrative winnings came after receiving a reported £116million signing on fee to join up with the breakaway series. Despite the remarkable earnings, it has not been all good for the Australian star.
After being crowned Open champion last June, Smith found himself second in the world rankings, and on the brink of becoming the planet's best player for the very first time. His move to LIV put stop to that though, with the Saudi-backed series yet to acquire Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) recognition.
With the Aussie banned from the PGA Tour due to his LIV allegiances, this left Smith without the chance to compete for world ranking points, halting his charge to become the world's top player. Smith is back in action at this week's Saudi International - where world ranking points or an offer in conjunction with the Asian Tour.
Ahead of his 2023 debut, the Australian spoke about the consequences of his LIV switch. He 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 or 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 No.1, and that was definitely something I wanted to tick off."
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A number of the world's best golfers - including the likes of Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau - have tumbled down the world rankings since their defection to the Saudi-backed series. This has led to many questioning the current legitimacy of the OWGR system, including Smith who believes the rankings will soon become 'obsolete'.
He went on: "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? It would be nice, but like I said, you know who you've got to beat when you get on the golf course."
