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Cam Smith slammed golf’s “irrelevant” world rankings and branded LIV Golf’s critics “keyboard warriors”.

The Open champion joined the Saudi-funded tour earlier this year, weeks after lifting the Claret Jug in St Andrews.

Last week’s Australian PGA Championship was the first ranking event Smith had played since joining LIV, with the rebel tour still unable to award points.

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He received just ten points for winning, however, and though he remains world No.3 for now, he is likely to fall down the standings in the coming months.

“I’m still third on the list somehow, but as time goes on I think those rankings become more and more irrelevant, especially with not getting world ranking points in those LIV events,” he said.

“It’s a shame that a big event like the PGA and the Open get so little points, especially for us Aussie guys who don’t really get an opportunity, especially the guys coming up, don’t really get an opportunity to win a lot of points.

“I feel like I’m playing some really, really solid golf and yeah, it’s a bit of a pain in the bum.”

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Despite criticism for LIV Golf ahead of this week’s Australian Open, Smith dismissed the dissenters as “keyboard warriors”, and claimed fans in his homeland are on board with the breakaway tour.

“I think the keyboard warriors are really the only ones to worry about, to be honest,” he said.

“Everyone down here loves it. The guys I think genuinely just want to see good golf and hopefully, we give them that out here in Melbourne.”