No player has been affected or seen their form decline as significantly as Cameron Smith since he joined LIV Golf. Now, years after that transition, many believe that Smith did not just leave the PGA Tour physically; they fear he left his golfing talent there as well. Some even suggested that his reported LIV contract, rumored to be worth $100 million, has drained his motivation and competitive edge. But is it really the money?

Speaking about the frustration of his recent results with Today’s Golfer’s Ben Parsons, Smith rejected the idea. “It’s frustrating because I don’t think if I was playing anywhere else, the results would have really changed. I just had a rough year there, and it s—d. Particularly, a couple of those events, ones I really feel like I should perform at and I didn’t,” Smith said.

“I think people see average play aligned with changing a tour or not working hard enough. It really couldn’t be more the opposite. It’s just golf. You take those four events out, I don’t think the season was too bad. It’s hard out here, it’s hard everywhere. There’s good players everywhere. It was just a crappy four weeks.”

Smith’s last individual victory came at LIV Golf Bedminster in August 2023 at Donald Trump’s Bedminster resort, when Donald Trump visited the course. Before that, in 2022, Smith reached a career-high world ranking of number two by winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions with a record-breaking 34-under par, The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and finally securing the Claret Jug at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.

In the 2024 season, he went winless individually for the first time since 2019, despite finishing as a runner-up on six occasions, including playoff losses in Hong Kong and at the PIF Saudi International. Then he missed the cut at the Open Championship. And by the 2025 season, the results had turned from disappointing to historically bad.

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Smith became the only golfer to compete in and miss the cut in all four major championships—the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open Championship—in a single calendar year.

After failing to make the third round with 8 over par at the Royal Portrush Golf Club last year, Smith spoke with Bunkered (where Ben Parsons was then working) and admitted almost the same frustration that, despite his hard work, he was mentally battling to keep his head up.

“You’re constantly trying to figure stuff out whether you’re playing great or bad. It’s been difficult. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I feel like my technical stuff with my swing is as good as it’s ever been and I’m not getting the results from it,” Smith told Parsons back then.

Despite individual struggles, Smith’s current commitment remains firm

Recently, when the PGA Tour introduced a “returning membership” program—the pathway back for LIV stars who have won The PLAYERS and Majors after 2022, following the return of players like Brooks Koepka—Smith was among those eligible to return. But he rejected the offer.

Smith clarified that his decision was rooted in his loyalty towards the league, his team, and spending more time at home.

“To be honest, you know, I decided to come out here and spend more time at home, and I’m not giving that away. So, I’ll be on LIV for the years to come,” Smith said when he was first asked about the PGA Tour’s olive branches Returning Membership Program.

He later added, “I’d like to think I’m a man of my word. What I set out to do, we’re currently doing with the [Ripper GC] team and Golf Australia, so I couldn’t be happier.”

For Smith, the value of the team format and the flexibility to spend more time with family in Australia outweighed any desire to return to his old schedule.

And whether he can get back to his 2022 level, Smith isn’t too sure about that. But he knows it wouldn’t be that easy.

“2022 was a great year and I would love to have another year like that. But it’s so hard to replicate. I feel like even if I play my best golf for the rest of my life in every tournament, I may not ever do that ever again. I might, but that was just a crazy year and I want to get back to that,” Smith said, reminiscing on that past.

But while Smith’s individual game has been under fire, his team, Ripper GC, has succeeded. The all-Australian team featuring Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, and Matt Jones won the 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas.

And entering the 2026 season, the team made a monumental move by signing 23-year-old Australian star Elvis Smylie. Smylie, the son of tennis Grand Slam champion Liz Smylie, who won the individual trophy in Riyadh, with a final-round 64 to hold off Jon Rahm by a single stroke in his debut.

Smylie’s victory, along with strong finishes from Smith (T13), Herbert (T9), and Leishman (T22), propelled Ripper GC to the team title with a total of 69-under par. And as the LIV Golf is currently headed to Adelaide, Australia, for the second tournament of the 2026 season, Smith and his team are expecting a warm welcome from the home crowd at The Grange Golf Club.