Like the rest of the game's stars, Smith has arrived in Los Angeles for the U.S. Open none the wiser as to how the new arrangement will play out, after golf's powerbrokers shocked everyone with last week's sudden development.

It's unclear whether LIV Golf will continue beyond 2023 but, while it does, Australia's reigning Open Champion and World No.9 Smith says he will blissfully stay put.

"I've made the right decision anyway. I'm very happy with where I'm at," Smith said on Tuesday.

"I made that decision for a few different reasons."

One of Smith's motivations was to play less golf, which LIV offers with three-round tournaments and fewer of them, to allow the Queenslander to spend more time back home in Australia.

Asked if he would consider a return to the PGA Tour next year if there were no longer LIV events, Smith said: "That's another pretty hypothetical question. I'm unable to answer that one.

"It's too early to say with what's going to go on here. I know as much as everyone else, and it's going to be interesting to see how the next few months, maybe even year, plays out."

Smith said he only found out about the surprise twist in golf's civil war when he received a phone call from Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) that finances LIV, 10 minutes before the announcement was made on American television.

"I guess the first reaction was I thought it was kind of a joke that had come out," Smith said.

"He didn't really explain too much. There's still a lot of stuff to be worked out, and as time goes on we'll get to know more and more.

"There's definitely a lot of curious players, on both sides, as to what the future is going to look like."