British Open champion Smith set to play 2 Australian events

Seattle

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — British Open champion Cameron Smith is set to return home to play for the first time since 2019 when he contests the Australian Open and Australian PGA golf tournaments later this year.

Smith will be OK to play in both regardless of whether he joins the rival LIV Golf series, as he has been rumored to do. Unlike the PGA Tour, which has suspended players who have competed in the LIV series, the PGA Tour Australasia has no policy against its members playing other tours.

The Australian Open, to be played concurrently with the Women’s Australian Open, is scheduled for Dec. 1-4 at Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne. The Australian PGA is set for Nov. 24-27 at Royal Queensland in Brisbane.

Smith, who was born in Brisbane, won the Australian PGA titles in 2017 and 2018.

“I’ve had an unbelievable year and to be coming home to play tournaments is the icing on the cake,” Smith was quoted as saying Thursday by tournament officials . “I’m so excited to see friends and family again. Some of them I haven’t seen for years now.”

___

More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports