“It was obviously a business decision for one and an offer I couldn’t ignore,” Cam Smith said after joining LIV Golf in 2022. The Greg Norman-led circuit has offered contracts in nine figures to PGA Tour stars it signed. Now, LIV Golf doesn’t disclose the exact figures or various details of contracts. But Smith has been candid that the number was too big to swat aside. 

Smith’s contract is estimated to be north of $100M. It pales in comparison to Jon Rahm’s contract, yes. But the Spaniard’s contract was more of an outlier than a norm. In the first two seasons, the majority of LIV’s contracts were valued around that $100M threshold. 

So far, the All-Australian Ripper GC captain has pocketed around $40.6M aside from the contract sum. Smith has won thrice in LIV Golf, first in Chicago in 2022, then twice last year at Bedminster and London. 

Interestingly, Greg Norman revealed that he didn’t push for Cam Smith’s signing. Rather, he wanted the six-time PGA Tour winner to take the call. Norman told Fox Sports earlier, “[W]hen I did the presentation to Cam I sat back and let it go and I didn’t I push it at all. We had a couple of conversations. And then when the time came, he was ready.”

Since his early success, Smith went through a slump as well. It’s been over a year since his last victory. But Greg Norman has exuded confidence in the 31-year-old whenever he was asked about him. A similar confidence about the Great White Shark was visible in Smith’s words as well. 

Cam Smith believes he can make a broader impact on home soil through LIV Golf

Reportedly, Greg Norman has to step down as the CEO of the PIF-funded side later this year. LIV Golf is already on the hunt for a new chief. Asked about his thoughts on the matter, Cam Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald, “I was pretty surprised myself. I think he has been under a lot of (public) scrutiny for a few years. They had said he was going to go and he hasn’t. I would not be surprised if it was all just a rumor.”

The trust comes from the opportunity Cam Smith got from Norman. Aside from the lucrative paychecks, there was something more in LIV that Smith couldn’t find in the Tour. “Playing less golf, spending more time in Australia, which was obviously really important,” the one-time major winner said a few months back.

This year, the Ripper GC captain is teeing off in his third event on home soil aside from the LIV Golf Adelaide. Smith netted a T3 at the Queensland PGA Championship and then a T2 at the NSW Open last week. Moreover, Smith invited two local golfers, 22-year-old Elvis Smylie and Jack Buchanan, for a practice round. Smith teamed up with the latter to play a round against his Ripper GC teammate Lucas Herbert, who paired with Smylie.

Currently, the 31-year-old is T6 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship. Interestingly, it’s Elvis Smylie who is sitting at the top after the first round. Smith is surely one of Greg Norman’s most-prized stars. Of course, he is a compatriot feeling but more than that shark knew what it meant to have Smith on the roster. Smith too shares the same sentiment about Norman.