2022 Players Championship winner Cameron Smith lost his parking spot at TPC Sawgrass and access to the Ponte Vedra Beach course after switching sides to LIV last week.
As a Players Championship winner, Smith was supposed to have a reserved parking spot. His name has since been replaced by a standard sign that says “Tour players only.”
“If they go to LIV they don’t have any of their [PGA] Tour privileges at TPC properties,” TPC Sawgrass general manager Derek Sprague said.
According to a source close to him, Smith no longer has any TPC member benefits. He had been active there since moving to the area in 2015.
Smith’s golf bag replica was also removed from the TPC Sawgrass pro shop. Photos of the 29-year-old golfer were also removed from the walls of the clubhouse. Smith’s home country’s flag, on the other hand, continues to fly in honor of his 2022 victory.
The LIV series has attracted several of golf’s biggest names, including Smith, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson Dechambeau. Since then, the PGA has taken steps to prevent players from joining the rival series, resulting in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit.
Smith’s LIV debut
Smith received a massive payout of $1.5m despite finishing fourth in the individual competition and sixth in the team competition of his LIV debut last week outside of Boston.
“I thought I was really out of it after the second round as I played pretty poorly but to get out here today and to do what I did was pretty cool,” Smith said.
“It was just an unfortunate bogey there on the second last hole and it cost me a spot in the playoff.”
Smith, who won the British Open in July and rose to No. 2, said he was excited to compete in LIV tournaments.
“It was great out there – the competition is fantastic,” he continued. “It’s loud and it feels like the course has a heartbeat. I love that and can’t wait to keep going.”
The 29-year-old was named one of three PGA Tour Player of the Year nominees just a few days after his LIV debut.
’It’s unfair’
Smith insisted that it was unfair that LIV Golf members did not earn world ranking points. He said he wanted this to change before his exclusion from the four majors expires.
Last month, Smith’s one-shot victory at the British Open earned him a five-year exemption to the four majors. Unfortunately, for the time being, he is no longer eligible for world ranking points.
“It’s really a shame that we are not getting world ranking points out here,” Smith said prior to his LIV Golf debut. “To have 48 of the best guys around the world playing, and not to get world ranking points, is perhaps a little bit unfair.
“I hope that these world ranking points will sort themselves out before my exemption is up.
LIV Golf’s proposal to the Official World Golf Ranking board is currently being reviewed by representatives from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, USGA, R&A, PGA of America, and Augusta National.