Cameron Smith Withdraws From BMW Championship Due To Injury After Controversial Penalty
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images. Pictured: Cam Smith.
Cameron Smith is slated to miss the BMW Championship this weekend due to lingering effects from a hip injury, the golfer's agent said in a statement on Monday.
Smith is third in the FedEx Cup points standings, meaning he's all set to qualify for the Tour Championship later this month regardless of the results from the Wilmington Country Club this weekend.
"He has been dealing with some on and off hip discomfort for several months and thought it best he rest this week in his pursuit of the FedEx Cup," Smith's agent Bud Martin said a statement.
The No. 2 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking was tied as the second-best favorite (+1500) to win the tournament prior to the news, only trailing Rory McIlroy (+1100) at FanDuel.
Smith's +1500 odds were tied with Patrick Cantlay and Jon Rahm.
The Telegraph, a newspaper in the UK, reported last week that Smith is set to sign a roughly $100 million guaranteed deal to join the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series. If made official, he'd join Phil Mickleson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson as other notable golfers to defect to the controversial new league.
Smith will finish the FedEx Cup season, play the Presidents Cup against the United States in mid-September and then reportedly turn his attention to LIV Golf. The Australian repeatedly avoided questions on the topic ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at the TPC Southwind in Memphis last week.
At Southwind, Smith had an opportunity to become the No. 1 golfer in the world with a win after Scottie Scheffler missed the cut. Smith woke up on Sunday two strokes behind the lead, but he was issued a two-stroke penalty from an incident during the Saturday's third round. News of the penalty broke just 25 minutes before his tee time in the final round.
Smith was determined to have made an "improper drop" on the fourth hole on Saturday. Part of his ball was sitting on the red line that indicates out of bounds after his tee shot went in the water. Smith played the ball without noticing or reporting the error.
Smith had been hovering at around +400 odds to win the tournament at that point before dipping to roughly +1000. He started that day tied for third before dropping to T14 after the penalty.
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