‘Hard to know what to expect’ – Cameron Smith gets honest on the 'weird' night golf challenge at LIV Golf Riyadh

The 2025 LIV Golf season is set to begin on February 6 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While this new season features new venues and some new golfers, there is another twist to the event in Riyadh. The upcoming event is set to be played under floodlights at night.

This change has warranted opinions from golfers and fans across the globe. One such golfer who spoke about playing in the night in Riyadh is Cameron Smith. In a press conference ahead of the event, he was asked to share his thoughts on night golf and what he expects in Round 1.

The Ripper GC captain answered:

"Yeah, it's hard to know what to expect, but like he said, doing everything at nighttime is a little bit weird. It's really cool out there. I think it's very different. The course is going to play a little bit different to when we were here. It's probably going to play a little bit longer being a bit colder."

Smith added:

"It's been a challenge, but like I said before, we've never really been scared of a challenge. A new challenge is always exciting. I think everyone is really excited to get the year started. It's definitely been a little bit more of a hype, I think, this week than previous years."

You can see Cameron Smith practicing under the floodlights in the video below:

Smith is not the only LIV Golfer who gave a reaction to playing night golf. 2024 Individual Title winner Jon Rahm also expressed his thoughts over playing under the floodlights. The Spanish golfer said he has been excited to play at night since LIV Golf made the announcement.

---

A look at the teams and players set to participate in LIV Golf Riyadh

Here is a detailed look at the teams, captains, and golfers set to compete in LIV Golf Riyadh:

4 Aces GC:

• Dustin Johnson (C)
• Thomas Pieters
• Patrick Reed
• Harold Varner III

Cleeks GC:

• Martin Kaymer (C)
• Richard Bland
• Frederik Kjettrup
• Adrian Meronk

Crushers GC:

• Bryson DeChambeau (C)
• Paul Casey
• Charles Howell III
• Anirban Lahiri

Fireballs GC:

• Sergio Garcia (C)
• Abraham Ancer
• Luis Masaveu
• David Puig

HyFlyers GC:

• Phil Mickelson (C)
• AndyOgletree
• Brendan Steele
• Cameron Tringale

Iron Heads GC:

• Kevin Na (C)
• Yubin Jang
• Jinichiro Kozuma
• Danny Lee

Legion XIII:

• Jon Rahm (C)
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Tom McKibbin
• Caleb Surratt

Majesticks GC:

• Ian Poulter (C)
• Henrik Stenson (C)
• Lee Westwood (C)
• Sam Horsfield

RangeGoats GC

• Bubba Watson (C)
• Ben Campbell
• Peter Uihlein
• Matthew Wolff

Ripper GC

• Cameron Smith (C)
• Lucas Herbert
• Matt Jones
• Marc Leishman

Smash GC

• Brooks Koepka (C)
• Talor Gooch
• Jason Kokrak
• Graeme McDowell

Stinger GC:

• Louis Oosthuizen (C)
• Dean Burmester
• Branden Grace
• Charl Schwartzel

Torque GC:

• Joaquin Niemann (C)
• Sebastián Muñoz
• Carlos Ortiz
• Mito Pereira

Wild Card Players:

• Anthony Kim
• Max Lee

Reserves:

• Khalid Attieh
• John Catlin
• Kalle Samooja
• Ollie Schniederjans