He finished by further enhancing his career on the controversial Saudi Aradbian-backed tour, finishing tied for 22^nd at the tournament at Bedminster in New Jersey, owned by former American president Donald Trump.

Smyth, at two-over, was the second ranked player in the all-Australian team called Punch, earning A$246,000 and finising ahead of the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson Dechambeau and Graeme McDowell.

Read more: Wollongong's Emma McKeon claims 11th gold medal to create Commonwealth Games history

Henrik Stenson's decision that cost him the European Ryder Cup captaincy paid large and immediate dividends Sunday when he won the LIV Golf Invitational event at Bedminster and picked up more than $4 million for three days' work.

The big payoff -- not including a signing bonus reported to be about $50 million -- comes less than two weeks after the 46-year-old Swedish player decided to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.

Stenson had pledged full support to the European tour when he became Ryder Cup captain in March, and the tour stripped him of the job four months later when he changed his mind.

"I guess we can agree I played like a captain," Stenson said on the LIV Golf telecast, after finishing at 11-under 202.

Read more: Five things we learned from the weekend in Illawarra sport

Asked by the LIV-paid broadcaster if he felt validated by the win, Stenson chose not to engage and replied, "It's been a good first week".

"It's been a busy 10 days. I'm extremely proud I managed to focus as well as I did."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say.

Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.

To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.