Smith, fellow Aussie Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale, Harold Varner III, Joaquin Niemann and Anirban Lahiri are all set to make their LIV debuts this week at the LIV Golf Invitational Boston.
Titling the event as ‘Boston’ is perhaps a little generous for The International Golf Club’s location that is nearly an hour’s drive West of the Massachusetts capital, but nonetheless there will likely be an increase in crowd numbers if the nearby U.S. Open was anything to go by.
Plenty of those on site, as well as those tuning in via YouTube, will be keen to watch how Smith performs since making the jump for a rumoured US$100 million, as the Queenslander missed the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events with a hip injury and never really featured at the Tour Championship.
Beyond Smith’s intrigue, Bubba Watson will also make his first appearance since signing with the Saudi backed league, but in a non-playing capacity as he continues to recover from injury. The two-time Masters winner set to spend some time in the commentary box.
RIGHT: Marc Leishman will also make his LIV Golf debut this week outside of Boston. PHOTO: Rob Carr/Getty Images.
COURSE: Located in Bolton, and surrounded by farmland and densely folage covered areas, The International Golf Club is a 36 hole facility with its Oaks Course welcoming Norman and co this week.
Designed by Tom Fazio the Oaks layout was updated by Tripp Davis, who added new tees, as well as completing resurfacing and extensive bunker work.
Like the land surrounding the property, trees line the course and isolate each hole, while also having the power to ruin a score if a player hits a drive significantly off line.
The new bunkers will be more of a factor in the strategy and scoring of the top pros than in previous years, while some bunkers were removed during the renovations.
“Our principal goal was to modernise the golf course and it’s rewarding to see these concepts come to life,” Davis told the Golf Course Architecture website. “The good bones that already were in place went a long way in getting the job done and The International team’s golf-first approach freed us up to implement the signature aspects our group has developed over the years.”
Measuring 7,112 yards and playing to a par of 72, the closing stretch of three holes will likely be pivotal this week although they won’t play as such for many of the competitors due to the shotgun start.
The 454 yard 16th kicks of the trio with a double dogleg challenge that meanders left then right at the green set horizontally from the line of play. Playing over 200 yards, the par-3 penultimate hole won’t trouble these golfers with its waste bunker up the left side, the challenge coming in the form of a raised green that will surely see plenty of balls repelled when attacking pins cut close to the edge.
The round closes with a par-5 at 575 yards where the fairway narrows the further players get from the tee, before the hole takes a hard right turn with trees encroaching on the right side making hitting the green in two a difficult prospect.
RELATED: So-called expert golf tips for this week
PRIZEMONEY: US$25,000,000 ($20 million for the individual event; $5 million to be split among the leading teams)
PLAYERS TO WATCH: As mentioned above, all eyes will be on Cam Smith this week as he plays his first event as arguably the biggest ‘get’ in Norman’s raid of the PGA Tour’s rank and file.
Smith has already won three times this year, including The Players and The Open, and with a return home later in 2022 on his schedule the Aussie will not be planning to wind down anytime soon.
The two-time Australian PGA champion has become one of the most popular players in world golf over the course of the last few years, but will tee it up this week having received the most criticism and negative attention of his career, most notably on social media. An aspect that will make his appearance this week even more interesting to view if he has taken any notice of the exterior noise.
Smith’s fellow Presidents Cup deserter Joaquin Niemann is another big signing for LIV as one of the rising starts of the game.
The Chilean arrives after a run of T13, T8 and T9 (gross) across the PGA Tour’s Playoff’s and will rekindle his friendship and practice rounds with mentor Sergio Garcia this week that might help him take the trophy on debut.
Henrik Stenson won last start at Bedminster and seemed rejuvenated and will be keen to continue his newfound form, as will Dustin Johnson who showed plenty in New Jersey.
AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD: Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jed Morgan and Wade Ormsby
COVERAGE: Beginning Friday local time, coverage will be available via the LIV Golf website, YouTube and Facebook channels.