Cameron Smith, the reigning champion of the Players Championship, is still aiming to make a return to the tournament this week, despite being barred from competing. The Australian, who won the event and the Open at St Andrews last July, is currently suspended from the US PGA Tour after joining the rival LIV Golf tour.
Smith, the world No 5, has said that he would like to attend this week’s event as a spectator and pay for his ticket, although he is unsure if it would be received well. He said: “I grew up my whole childhood watching the event. I would love to get out there. I don’t know how it would be received, me getting out there and watching, walking around in the crowd. Might be pretty funny, I would love to do that.”
The 29-year-old has even taken it a step further, suggesting that he might try to become a member of the club, despite the fact that they had previously expelled him and taken away his reserved parking spot when he joined LIV.
The PGA Tour and the club at Sawgrass have already had to deal with 31 players from LIV entering the tournament last year, and Smith’s potential return would be another major embarrassment for them.
It remains to be seen if Smith will actually attempt to attend the Players Championship this week, but his comments have certainly caused a stir and show that the former champion is still determined to make a statement about the state of the game.
