HOYLAKE: Ahead of defending his Open Championship crown, LIV Golf superstar Cameron Smith has fired a warning to the quality field assembled at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake. The world No. 7 Australian, who became the highest-ranked player in the world to join the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf last year (he was No. 2 then), said he felt he was playing even better golf now than he was a year ago. Smith won the 150th Open Championship last year at St Andrews, putting together a remarkable Sunday charge for his first career major title. The 29-year-old had started the day four shots behind third-round leader Rory McIlroy and beat him by two shots after a stunning round of 64. American Cam Young was solo second, one behind Smith. “As a golfer, I think I’m actually better now than I was last year,” said Smith, who won the LIV Golf tournament at Centurion Club two weeks ago and is looking for a UK double, like McIlroy, who won the Scottish Open last week. “I think the stuff that I had to clean up is progressing. It’s still a little bit of a work in progress. My 5-iron and up has always been a bit of a struggle for me, and that’s an area of the game that we’ve worked probably harder on than we have in the past. I feel like it’s right there. It just has to come together. “I think the first round I had at Centurion a couple of weeks ago was the first time where I felt like it had all come together. And then, the driver wasn’t my best friend on the weekend there, but I managed to kind of scramble out a good week. It feels really close.” Smith said there was no extra motivation this week just because he wants to prove a point for LIV Golf. “I think LIV aside, I’m determined to try my best every week and just try and be a better golfer than I was last week,” said the Brisbane resident. “I never really expect too much of myself. I expect to do everything 100 percent, ticking all the boxes early in the week, making sure I’m prepared, and then just go out there and give it my all. That’s all I can really do. “I think I’ve done that really well this year, and especially last year. It was so good last year that you almost expected to win everything. I think that’s not really a good way to look at golf. Just expect to do all the things that you’re meant to do 100 percent and then go out there and give it a crack. And if you win, you win.” Even though the PGA Tour and PIF have signed a framework for an agreement, there is still a lot of uncertainty with the deal, and many PGA Tour players have not taken lightly to the fact that it was done without keeping them in the loop. There have been talks that LIV Golf might cease to exist in the future and players are re-inducted into the PGA Tour. However, Smith said he was optimistic about the future of LIV Golf and threw his weight behind its Australian Commissioner Greg Norman. Smith said: “Yes, I’m absolutely optimistic. I think golf is in a great spot. There are obviously a lot of things that are up in the air that no one really knows at the moment. I don’t think even the guys that are trying to sort it out really know what this outcome is going to be like. “A lot of uncertainty, but I’m optimistic that LIV will be around in the future. “As I’ve said in the past, the PGA Tour is a great place to play golf, and it will be for a very long time. But by joining LIV, I don’t think there was any part of me that made me think I made the wrong decision throughout these last eight or nine months. “I think I’ve become a bit of a friend of Greg’s in these last few months. Personally, I think he’s doing a great job for our tour. He’s looking out for our best interest. That’s all you can ask of a guy that’s running the show. I’d love to see him keep on.” The 151st Open Championship, the last major of the golf season, starts on Thursday.