Cameron Smith ousted as Australia’s number 1 golfer by Jason Day
When Cameron Smith made the switch to the LIV Golf series in 2022, he was the winner of the Open Championship and ranked second in the world. However, ever since the LIV Series was denied OWGR points, Smith has been sliding down the leaderboard.
Cameron Smith has also been recently dethroned as the highest-ranked Australian golfer, with Jason Day claiming the title. Cameron Smith held the title of Australia's No. 1 golfer since 2021 after he overtook Adam Scott at the Masters. Since 2021, Smith has slipped down to World No. 23 following a 17th-place finish at the Australian Open.
Jason Day, on the other hand, finished 11th at the exclusive Hero World Challenge and sits in the 19th position on the OWGR rankings. With this sudden drop in rankings, Cameron Smith risks losing out on the opportunity to represent Australia at the 2024 Olympics.
Smith played at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will hope to tee it up at the quadrennial event once again. To keep his hopes of participating in the Olympics alive and improve his rankings, he will frequent the Asian Tour alongside the LIV Series for the 2024 season.
Jason Day dethrones Cameron Smith, comes back from injury to claim No. 1 Australian golfer spot
Jason Day won the PGA Championship in 2015 and finished in the top 10 at two other Majors that year. The Australian golfer peaked as the World No. 1 in the same year and was considered one of the best golfers in the world.
However, Day suffered from some serious bouts of chronic back pain in 2018 and 2019. After withdrawing from several tournaments and an overall decrease in performance, Jason Day hit an all-time low of World No. 159 in 2022.
The 36-year-old made a strong comeback soon after and ended the 2022 season ranked 122 in the world. In 2023, Day won the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship in an emotional victory. He also finished T2 at this year's Open Championship.
Needless to say, his rise to the top of the leaderboard is the crowning moment of his long and hard-earned comeback.