Cam Smith recently called the decision to drop Matt Jones from his LIV Golf team “tough.” He called the 45-year-old golfer one of his best mates but admitted that it was “pretty brutal” to replace him.
On Saturday, February 7, Smith’s Ripper GC won the LIV Golf Riyadh’s team portion. The team featured Lucas Herbert, Marc Leishman, captain Cam Smith from the previous season and Elvis Smylie, who replaced Matt Jones.
During the post-round interview, Smith reflected on his decision to drop Matt Jones.
“Yeah, I mean, it was an extremely tough decision to look elsewhere,” he said. “Jonesy has turned into one of my best mates over the last four years out here. He’s a great guy. He’s a legend. I still love him. It does make it feel a little bit better. But it’s still one of the hardest things I think I’ve ever had to do, which is, it was pretty brutal.”
Smith’s teammate Marc Leishman also admitted that it was a tough decision for the former Open Champion.
“Like he said, he’s become one of our best mates,” Leishman said. “I’d say Jonesy would say he hasn’t played like he’s probably wanted to play over the last couple of years, unfortunately. Like anything, teams progress, and I think, with all expect to Jonesy, it’s progressing in a good way. Elvis proved himself this week, and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Jones had an underwhelming 2025, where he could make just one top-ten finish. His best result was a T4 finish at Andalucia, and he ended in the Open Zone after finishing 40th in the individual standings.
What’s next for Cam Smith?
Cam Smith will next compete at LIV Golf Adelaide, which will be played from February 12 to 15 at the Grange East Course.
Smith had a decent season on LIV Golf in 2025, where he made five top-ten finishes and concluded the year at 18th in the season standings. However, he failed to convert that success into majors, where he missed the cut in all four of them.
Here is a look at Cam Smith’s performance in the 2025 LIV Golf season:
- LIV Golf Mayakoba: T8
- LIV Golf Las Vegas: T15
- LIV Golf Jeddah: T41
- LIV Golf Hong Kong: 2-y
- LIV Golf Miami: Withdrawn
- LIV Golf Adelaide: T14
- LIV Golf Singapore: T2
- LIV Golf Houston: T48
- LIV Golf Nashville: T9
- LIV Golf Andalucía: T6
- LIV Golf United Kingdom: T2
- LIV Golf Greenbrier: T8
- LIV Golf Chicago: 52