Rory McIlroy butt of ‘tears’ joke by LIV rebels after latest mega-money event

Golf star Rory McIlroy was the butt of the jokes by some LIV Golf Series rebels.

Cameron Smith faced the media during last week's LIV Golf series event in Chicago – a competition in which he won, netting a whopping £3.5 million after finishing 13 under par.

The Australian star joined the Saudi-backed LIV in August, signing a deal worth a reported £118 million deal.

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Golf ace McIlroy has been one of the vocal critics of the LIV Series, even trying to get Smith to remain with the established PGA Tour.

After the first round in Chicago, Akili Johnson, of DrunkByTheTurn asked a peculiar question to Smith after the Aussie beat McIlroy at St Andrew's: "I just wanted to reflect on you being the 150th winner of The Open. I know you'd spoken about how many beers you could fit in the Claret Jug," Johnson said.

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"I think it was two. I just want to know, how many of Rory McIlroy's tears were you able to fit in it after it?"

The question went down well with Smith, the team captain, as well as playing partners Matthew Wolff and Phil Mickelson. But Smith refused to answer the question. “I'm not answering that,' he said with a smile.

Earlier this week, the LIV CEO Greg Norman admitted that he used the lure of a 25 per cent stake in one of the tour's franchises to persuade Smith to defect from the PGA Tour.

“You've got to think about it from Cam's perspective, he completely understood one thing that other people are struggling to understand: the value LIV Golf brings, and that new value is the franchise,' Norman told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Cam knows about it, but he's probably a little too young to understand what Kerry Packer did in cricket. He did what he did for the players, creating teams and night cricket…look where it's evolved to from there with the IPL.“

Smith is one of several high-profile golfers who have defected to the controversial LIV Golf circuit.

The LIV Series has been controversial for many reasons and often criticised as it’s backed by financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that's often considered the richest and least transparent in the world.

After his win in Chicago, Smith said that he had proved the doubters wrong. "I think I had to prove to probably myself and some other people that I am still a great player, you know I am still out here to win golf tournaments," Smith said. "Proud of how I hung in there today. Didn't really have my best stuff the first eight or nine holes but stuck it tough and made a few good putts coming in. It was nice."

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