'The crowd gets pretty rowdy': Cam Smith and Marc Leishman ready to welcome LIV Golf to Australia
"I couldn’t really think of a better place to have it than in Australia."
Cam Smith and Marc Leishman will be the hometown heroes when LIV Golf lands on Australian shores for the very first time.
The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide will play host to LIV's first ever tournament Down Under.
Kicking off on April 21, the tournament will see LIV's star-studded roster battle it out for the Individual and Team Championships.
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Big-name stars such as Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Lee Westwood will all feature.
In terms of Aussie talent on show, Cam Smith and Marc Leishman will be joined by Matt Jones and Jed Morgan as they look for victory on home soil.
Aside from the nail-biting competition, fans will be treated to entertainment and live music from none other than Australian DJ FISHER.
One bloke who simply cannot wait to host an LIV event in his home country is the current world number one.
"The boys have been looking forward to it now for five or six months," Smith said.
"I know the prep down there is going pretty good and I’m just happy to bring LIV Golf to Australia. I think the Australian fans will really love it."
He added: "I actually haven’t played The Grange before. I’ve played a lot around Adelaide, never made it out to The Grange but have heard lots of good things. I know it will be our first party hole experience and to be honest I couldn’t really think of a better place to have it than in Australia. The crowd gets pretty rowdy and pretty loud so it’ll be awesome."
Over recent years, Australia has become a hot bed of talent bursting onto the scene.
And having some huge names plying their trade on the biggest stage shows just how far the sport has come Down Under.
"It's unbelievable. Any time you get to go home and play it’s amazing, but it’s pretty close to my home town," Leishman said.
"To get back at that time of year is gonna be pretty cool with the football on. There is a big weekend of football the week before in Adelaide. It’s just great to be able to go back and play in front of home fans and to see the look on all the kids' faces when they see me or Cam and I’m sure all the other guys, it’s pretty cool. Guys [that] they normally see on TV, they'll actually see in person and get to interact with which is great."
He added: "I know when I was home over Christmas... I live a six hour drive from Adelaide and the buzz about the event was crazy already. I think they’ve released more tickets since then and they sold. I’m really excited that we can get down there [and] play in front of home crowds. I haven’t been home during the year, apart from Christmas, for 16 years so it will be nice to be able to play in front of home crowds in Adelaide which is a really cool city - they love their sport and certainly excited to get down there and showcase what we’ve got with LIV."
Max Sherry