“Have to play well to get there,” LIV Golfer Cameron Smith admits feeling ‘pressure’ over Olympic selection

Cameron Smith finished tenth during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Have to play well to get there,” LIV Golfer Cameron Smith admits feeling ‘pressure’ over Olympic selection

Cameron Smith (Image via Imago)

LIV Golf star Cameron Smith is eyeing up a spot at the Olympics. He though has admitted to be feeling ‘pressure‘ over the selection for this marquee event scheduled to take place in Paris in July 2024.

The major reason for this concern from him is due to the qualification criteria. The Australian golf team is selected as per the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and with Cameron Smith playing on LIV Golf, things do not look good for him.

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LIV Golf saw their application for OWGR points being rejected in 2023. As a result of this, golfers from this tour do not get the rankings points. In 2023, Smith was one of the only two golfers from the Saudi-backed tour to be in the top 50 rankings.

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At the moment, the 2022 Open Championship winner is ranked at 62nd place and is below the likes of Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Davis with just two spots remaining on the team. Smith is now “desperate” to represent his country at the Olympics and is hoping to perform well in the upcoming events.

It’s desperately a place that I want to get to and represent Australia. I have to play well to get there, I know I have to play well, and I’m probably only going to get three or four shots at it before they make the selection. I guess it is more pressure.
Cameron Smith said as per The Guardian.

Up next for Smith is the LIV Golf Miami event at the Trump Doral course. A week later he will be playing in the Masters. The PGA Championship in May and the U.S. Open in June are the best chance he has to improve his chances of punching his ticket for Paris.

Six golfers reportedly opt-out of 2024 Olympics

As Cameron Smith continues to worry about his chances of selection for the 2024 Olympics, there are some golfers who have reportedly opt-out of it. As per reports from Spanish source ElPeriodiGolf, a total of six golfers including including Brooks Koepka have opted out of the 2024 Olympics.

Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka is one of the star who won’t feature at the Olympics (Image via Imago)

Tyrrell Hatton and Louis Oosthuizen join Koepka as three LIV Golfers who will not be participating in this event. A reason for this decision from them could be due to the OWGR.

Apart from them, Thomas Pieters, Adam Scott, and Marcel Siem have also been reported to have asked to skip this event. This would mark a third successive time where Scott has refused to represent his country at the Olympics.

Despite the withdrawal of his players, golf fans will see some of the big names from the sport at the biggest sporting event. American international Xander Schauffele won the gold medal in the previous edition and would be hoping to replicate this feat again this year.

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