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Aussie superstar Cameron Smith’s LIV Golf team gets a new name – and a VERY Aussie one – while fans have a field day with the US team changing their label to RangeGoats.
- Cameron Smith has nicknamed his LIV Golf team ‘Ripper GC’
- Australian teammates Marc Leishman and Matt Jones are part of the team
- LIV Golf will organize a new league of 14 tournaments this year
- Tension continues with PGA Tour, LIV earned ‘zero income’ in 2022
Cameron Smith has announced the name of the LIV Golf team he will captain ahead of next season, and it has a uniquely Australian flavour.
The 29-year-old Smith nicknamed his squad, with compatriots Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, ‘Ripper GC’.
The 2022 Open Championship winner defected to LIV Golf last year for $140 million, and the suave Queenslander was also given a 25 per cent stake in the Australian team by CEO Greg Norman.
A total of 12 teams will participate, with the choice of Bubba Watson’s name raising many eyebrows.
The 44-year-old, who won the Masters in 2012 and 2014, opted for RangeGoats, drawing much criticism on social media.
This is much worse than I could have imagined. As a fan it’s so sad to see it,” one bewildered follower tweeted.
Cameron Smith has announced the name of his LIV Golf team ahead of next season, and it has a distinct Australian flavor.
Rival captain and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson opted to call his American team the RangeGoats.
Another said: ‘I’ve been laughing for two straight minutes over this. This is unreal. I really thought it was a joke.
Meanwhile, despite shelling out almost $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to start the dissident league, LIV’s revenue was “virtually zero” during its first season, it has reported.
Determined not to flip, LIV Golf goes after the PGA.
“The (PGA) tour damaged LIV’s brand, increased its costs by hundreds of millions of dollars and reduced revenue to virtually zero,” a court filing by LIV’s Golf attorneys revealed.
They also accused the PGA of undermining the careers of several of the tour’s players, including Australian journeyman Matt Jones.
Jones, 42, of Sydney, was one of many players suspended by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan after participating in LIV Golf events last year without formal releases.
The LIV Golf League, which has grown from an eight-event invitational series in 2022 to a 14-tournament league this year, begins on February 24 in Mexico.