“I don’t know if LIV Golf is going to be around in the really long term, and I know the PGA Tour is going to be around for as long as I’m living. The goal is to always play against the best players in the world week in week out, whether it’s on LIV or the PGA Tour.

“For me being as Asian Tour player right now I’m lapping up the opportunity to play against these guys.”

For me to become a better golfer and for my own personal development, I need to be competing against better players than I currently am

Travis Smyth

Wade Ormsby was the top Australian in the individual format at six-over, banking $244,000 in the 54-hole, no-cut event. South African Charl Schwartzel banked $6.71 million for winning the individual event and leading home the winning team.

Norman declared it is just the start of his new venture, despite PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan imposing indefinite bans on members such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and two-time Australian Open champion Matt Jones who have all joined the new league.

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“It’s my job to protect, defend and celebrate our loyal PGA Tour members, our partners and our fans, and that’s exactly what I did,” Monahan said.

“Why do [the LIV golfers who played in the PGA Tour] need us so badly? Those players have chosen to sign multi-year, lucrative contracts to play in a series of exhibition matches against the same players over and over again. You look at that versus what we see here [at the Canadian Open].”

But for Smyth, he says his motivation is to be in the company of the best players he can after years of fighting his way up the world rankings on both the Australian and Asian tours.

“I was pretty nervous on a lot of these tee shots and the experience to play with these high-level players [was incredible],” he said. “I know the field wasn’t as strong as what they maybe wanted it to be, but it will be in the near future.

“Everyone was in high spirits and the atmosphere at the golf club was amazing. One cool thing is I went and found a nice Australian bottle of wine which I gave to [Norman] so hopefully he was thankful for that. The week was incredible and they looked after both players and caddies so well.”

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