Fred Couples has taken a swipe at Australian golfer Cameron Smith who announced he was joining LIV Golf earlier this week.
The 2022 Open champion was one of six new additions to the Saudi-backed breakaway league that included Cameron Tringale, Joaquin Riemann, Harold Varner III, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri.
Explaining his decision, Smith was clear that his decision to join the new tour was motivated by finances, but also explained that he was hoping to spend more time at home in Australia with his family and friends.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe said: “Yes, it was a business decision as well. But you know, there’s so many positives to come out of this thing.
“For me, I haven’t been back in Australia for three years. To spend more time at home, you know, not miss it out on friends’ and family’s weddings and you know, a couple of my friends have had kids over the last four or five years that I still haven’t met.
“So that’s going to be a part of my life that I can’t wait to get back.”
While the world number two golfer prepares to play this weekend in the league’s fourth meet of the season at the International Golf Club in Bolton, Massachusetts, it seems some have not taken well to his comments, including former Masters champion Couples.
Embed from Getty ImagesWriting in a post on Twitter, the 15-time PGA Tour winner made his feelings very clear on the LIV defectors calling out Smith’s comments, particularly on missing out on spending time with his friends and family.
He said: “To all my friends who I missed birthdays & weddings …… so sorry, I was busy earning a living on the @pgatour and in my line of work the goal is to EARN your way to work weekends. And by weekends, I mean 72 holes. Sorry not sorry.”
To all my friends who I missed birthdays & weddings …… so sorry, I was busy earning a living on the @pgatour and in my line of work the goal is to EARN your way to work weekends. And by weekends i mean 72 holes. Sorry not sorry .
— fredcouplesgolf (@fredcouplesgolf) September 1, 2022
Smith isn’t the first person that Couples has trolled over the emergence of LIV Golf, with Couples recently roasting LIV Golf’s CEO Greg Norman at the Shaw Charity Classic.
He told reporters: “”All these guys think they’re changing the game and to me it’s comical, it’s really comical,” Couples told reporters at the Shaw Charity Classic.
“To have music on every tee and have people drinking beers and think that’s cool … I never thought the cast and crew that would do that would be the guys doing it.
“If they win or lose [in court], I don’t really care. I’m 62, I play the Champions Tour, but it’s a little heart-breaking.
Embed from Getty Images“Go do what you’re doing. Suing the Tour, 11 guys when there’s probably 200 guys on the Tour, I just find it really, really weird.
“And I have a funny feeling I know where it’s coming and it’s coming from their leader [Greg Norman], who no one’s liked for 25 years.
“And that’s not being mean, that’s just — that’s the truth. He’s not a friend of mine, but he never would be because we don’t get along. But he’s running a tour that he thinks is incredible.”
Meanwhile, those who have joined the new Tour have received a cold reception on social media, with Varner posting a message on his Instagram saying: “Your opinion of me may have changed because of this announcement. No lie, that’ll be a tough thing to deal with.”
This is really well done. You might not like the fact that Harold Varner III has left for LIV — and he seems to understand that — but I’m not sure the explanation could be any better. pic.twitter.com/rZRMbXobGA
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 30, 2022
But Varner has spoken since then and confirmed that it has been a difficult few days for him since he announced he would be joining the new tour.
“It sucked,” he said to a reporter in Boston. “Who likes to be hated? It’s terrible. I hate being hated. I’d rather not even be known than be hated. So yeah, it was terrible.”