Cameron Smith 'excited' about LIV future despite funding uncertainty

[p]Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has spent more than $5 ‌billion on LIV since its 2022 launch, confirmed last week ‌it will cut funding at the close of the 2026 season, ‌leaving the circuit scrambling for new backers.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-cameron/GMrdkLyR/"]Smith[/a], who captains the ‌all-Australian Ripper GC outfit, signed up early for a reported $100 million and has earned about $50 million in prize money from the team-based tour.[/p][p]The 2022 ‌British Open winner told reporters he had received ⁠every assurance that the ‌tour would continue next year, without elaborating.[/p][p]"[b]I promise you will hear it ​first from someone else, rather than me,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]"I know the team are working hard behind the scenes and ​they're doing everything they can for us.[/p][p]"[b]So I am excited, I know[/b] (LIV Golf chief executive) [b]Scott O'Neil is really excited ⁠for the progress and ​challenge in the coming months[/b]."[/p][p]O'Neil told a press conference ahead of the Virginia event in Washington, D.C. that he was confident of support from new sponsors and investors.[/p][p]"[b]I had about a dozen inbound ‌calls this weekend from potential investors,[/b]" O’Neil said on Tuesday.[/p][p]"[b]It was a split between private equity, family office and then your traditional high net worth guys who invest in sports and sports teams. So that has been really positive.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="b506387b-7e00-4e10-b241-b0d40e30c0e2" url="https://x.com/10SportAU/status/2051852364429279254" social-type="twitter" /][p]O'Neil stopped short of confirming whether PIF would honour player contracts past 2026.[/p][p]"[b]I mean, they own the majority of the business now, and they've agreed to fund through the season, as they said. Nothing there ‌has changed,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]Smith's form has plunged at the majors ​over the last two years, the 32-year-old missing the cut ‌at all four in 2025.[/p][p]He said that was just not good enough and he was making changes to turn his form around.[/p][p]"[b]I can promise you, the fire is in the belly, it's just a matter of time. I don't ⁠think time is running out ⁠on my major career ‌by any means,[/b]" he added.[/p]