LIV Golf star Cameron Smith faces fresh career blow leaving him scrambling over next steps

Cameron Smith, ranked 62nd in the world golf rankings, is worried about his ability to represent Australia in the Olympics as LIV Golf stars are ineligible to earn ranking points.

Cameron Smith of LIV Golf expressed his desire to compete for Australia in the upcoming Olympics, even though he is currently ranked 62nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.   

Smith, who was born in Brisbane, Australia, mentioned that his opportunities to participate in the Paris Olympics are diminishing because LIV golfers are unable to accumulate ranking points in the Saudi-backed league. 

He had achieved a ranking as prestigious as No. 2 globally in 2022, but gradually descended to No. 20 in 2023, and then experienced a sudden drop to No. 62 – his lowest ranking since 2017.   

Smith has earned the opportunity to participate in all four PGA Major tournaments by claiming victory at The Open Championship in St. Andrews in 2022, granting him a five-year exemption from major tournaments.  

Nevertheless, his successes in these competitions do not influence his eligibility for the upcoming Olympics. 

“It’s desperately a place that I want to get to and represent Australia.” said Smith to The Guardian. “I have to play well to get there. I know I have to play well, and I’m probably only going to get three or four shots at it before they make the selection. I guess it is more pressure.”

Smith previously expressed what his country means to him after recently missing the cut by nine shots at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship last year. The 30-year-old golfer previously won the event three times, lastly in 2022.

“Australia has been so good to me, there’s no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable,” Smith said. “Yeah, no words. S***. I’ve performed under pressure before and it’s not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually. I know what I’m doing, it’s just going out there and committing to something is another thing.”

After careful deliberation, the OWGR rejected LIV Golf’s request for points in October of last year. The rankings organisation cited concerns regarding LIV Golf’s format, shotgun start rules, and team elements. “We are not at war with them,” stated Peter Dawson, chairman of the OWGR board. “This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical.”

Just 60 players will qualify for the men’s golf tournament at the Paris Games. The world’s top 15 players will be invited to take part, but only up to a maximum of four golfers per country. For example, Brian Harman is not set to qualify because there are four Americans ranked higher than him – despite the Open champion being No. 9 in the world.

Another 45 players will then be invited based on their world ranking, but only up to two per country (and that country must not already have at least two players in the top 15. For example, World No. 80 Sami Valimaki and World No. 343 Kalle Samooja are on course to represent Finland at the Olympics.

Here’s a look at the top Men’s Olympic Golf Rankings as of March 27, 2024:

Men’s Olympic Golf Rankings

*Rankings as of Mar 27, provided by the Olympics

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy
3. Jon Rahm
4. Wyndham Clark
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Viktor Hovland
7. Patrick Cantlay
8. Ludvig Aberg
9. Matt Fitzpatrick
10. Tommy Fleetwood
11. Matsuyama Hideki
12. Jason Day
13. Kim Joo-hyung [Tom Kim]
14. Matthieu Pavon
15. Nick Taylor
16. Sepp Straka
17. Min Woo Lee
18. Shane Lowry
19. Emiliano Grillo
20. Im Sung-jae
21. Nicolai Hojgaard
22. Adam Hadwin
23. Ryan Fox
24. Adrian Meronk
25. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
26. Erik van Rooyen
27. Alex Noren
28. Thorbjorn Olesen
29. Stephan Jaeger
30. Thomas Detry
31. Sami Valimaki
32. Hisatsune Ryo
33. Joaquín Niemann
34. Victor Perez
35. David Puig
36. Yu Chun-An [Kevin Yu]
37. Yannik Paul
38. Yuan Yechun [Carl Yuan]
39. Joost Luiten
40. Pan Cheng-Tsung [C.T. Pan]
41. Alejandro Tosti
42. Camilo Villegas
43. Mito Pereira
44. Daniel Hillier
45. Matteo Manassero
46. Shubshankar Sharma
47. Adrien Dumont de Chassart
48. Abraham Ancer
49. Darius van Driel
50. Carlos Ortiz
51. Gavin Green
52. Guido Migliozzi
53. Gaganjeet Bhullar
54. Phachara Khongwatmai
55. Kiradech Aphibarnrat
56. Fabrizio Zanotti
57. Rafael Campos
58. Dou Zecheng
59. Nico Echevarria
60. Kalle Samooja