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Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith joined LIV Golf in 2022. According to LIV CEO Greg Norman, the Australian golfers received a 25 per cent stake in their franchise for the big-money move. Now, Leishman has revealed that his first action upon receiving the LIV offer was to call Smith.
According to Leishman, the two Ripper GC teammates decided to make the controversial move together. The 40-year-old claimed that he decided not to join the breakaway series if Smith wasn’t. However, he stated that the 2022 Open Championship winner had a similar stance and the duo decided to move together.
The six-time PGA Tour winner said that he “put all the positives and negatives down (of joining LIV) and the positives far outweighed the negatives.”
Speaking about his LIV Golf move in the latest episode of the Fairway to Heaven podcast, Marc Leishman said (at 1:08:07):
"It all happened pretty quick. I got a call from Greg (Norman). I remember it was the week after the US Open. They wanted me and Cam (Smith). And I called Cam and I'm like ‘mate I said I'm probably not going to go unless you go. So, what do you like and if you don't want to go that's fine, but don't judge and make your decision on me,’ and then he said ‘Well I'm not going unless you're going.’
"We put all the positives and negatives down and the positives far outweighed the negatives and it turned out to be a pretty easy decision. I think the good thing was we've both got very similar upbringings, working class families. We like enjoying ourselves… we work to live although we do have a really cool job. So, it was a fairly easy decision.”
It is pertinent to note that both Smith and Leishman were banned by the PGA Tour, soon after their defection to the Saudi-backed series. However, Leishman stated that he “hasn't regretted one bit” about the move. He claimed that Smith is “as happy as ever.” He reiterated that both he and his Aussie teammate were happy on the breakaway tour.
Has Marc Leishman won on LIV Golf?
Marc Leishman is yet to win an event on LIV Golf. The six-time PGA Tour winner started his breakaway tour career with a 35th-place finish at LIV Jeddah in 2022. Since then, the Aussie golfer has only managed four top-10 finishes.
His best finish on the series came at LIV Chicago in 2023, where he finished second on the 48-player leaderboard. However, Leishman tasted team success in 2023. Ripper GC, led by Cam Smith, won the LIV Bedminster.
Earlier this month, Marc Leishman played LIV Miami and finished fourth. His side finished eighth on the 13-team leaderboard.
