Open champion Cameron Smith says money was “a factror” in him becoming the highest-ranked player to join the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf series.<\/span><\/p>\n The 29-year-old world number two has been confirmed in the field for the next LIV tournament in Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Smith <\/span>refused to be drawn on his future<\/span><\/a> after winning The Open – his first major – at St Andrews in July.<\/span><\/p>\n The Australian will be joined in the event, from 2-4 September, by Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, the world number 19.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking to Golf Digest, Smith said that the guaranteed money on offer for participating in the LIV series was one of his reasons for leaving the PGA Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n “[Money] was definitely a factor in making that decision, I won’t ignore that or say that wasn’t a reason,” Smith said.<\/span><\/p>\n “It was obviously a business decision for one and an offer I couldn’t ignore.”<\/span><\/p>\n Smith also stressed that the schedule and opportunity to spend several months each year in his native Australia had also been a major consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith and Niemann, 23, are among six new faces competing in the 48-strong field in Massachusetts in what is the fourth LIV event of its inaugural series.<\/span><\/p>\n They include Australia’s Marc Leishman, 38, who was runner-up at the 2015 Open at St Andrews as well as Americans Harold Varner III, 32, and Cameron Tringale, 35, plus India’s top-ranked pro Anirban Lahiri, 35.<\/span><\/p>\n Players competing in the LIV series are currently barred from playing in PGA Tour events, although the DP World Tour has <\/span>temporarily lifted suspensions on LIV Golf players<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith has joined the LIV series following the <\/span>culmination of the FedEx Cup,<\/span><\/a> which marks the end of the PGA Tour season.<\/span><\/p>\n He has risen up the world rankings after consistent results on the PGA Tour and especially in the majors. He has won six PGA Tour titles, including<\/span> this year’s Players Championship,<\/span><\/a> and also finished tied second at the 2020 Masters and tied 13th in the 2022 US PGA.<\/span><\/p>\n Niemann, who spent almost a year as the world’s top amateur, <\/span>won his first PGA Tour title in February<\/span><\/a> when he claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the Genesis International in California. <\/span><\/p>\n While Smith is the highest-ranked player to sign up to the LIV Golf series, he is not the only major winner.<\/span><\/p>\n Americans Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are among those to have signed up for the Saudi-back tour, which is being led by two-time major winner Greg Norman.<\/span><\/p>\n The latest departures will increase the tension in the game and come a week after the <\/span>PGA Tour held a summit of its top players,<\/span><\/a> headlined by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, to discuss the threat posed by the LIV series.<\/span><\/p>\n
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