The winds of change are blowing in men’s professional golf, but two of Australia’s finest may be pushing back against them.

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A merger deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf appears imminent with regular updates drip feeding into the media about the status of the talks which have dragged on for roughly a year and a half, but Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman are seemingly not interested in any changes.

Speaking at Royal Queensland Golf Club on Tuesday ahead of the Australian PGA Championship, the pair beamed when discussing how life has been better with the LIV’s 14-event schedule allowing them to spend more time at home with family and friends both in America and Australia.

Leishman even declared this year to be the best of his life as he and Smith — along with fellow Australians Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones — won the LIV Golf team crown with Ripper GC, while he relished more time away from the golf course.

“I was pretty happy with the year. I got off to a quiet start but then Adelaide – things sort of kicked off there with the win as a team,” Leishman said.

“I came second in Singapore and had a few top five finishes, so pretty happy with the year.

“The fields are just so good every week. You’re playing against some really good players and it’s hard to win out there. Obviously that’s a box I’d like to tick, to win on LIV individually.

“I’ve put it down as a pretty good year on the golf course and off the golf course, it’s probably the happiest I’ve ever been.

“It’s been the best year of my life.

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“Getting to spend so much time with my kids, they came to a few tournaments and those that they came to I played really well. Travelling around with seven or eight of us, eating out for dinner and having fun every night, I’ve really enjoyed that about it.

“Playing some good golf and winning as a team – it’s very rare in golf that you get to actually celebrate with other people when you win who are equally as happy as you are, and that’s the cool thing about what we get to do now.

“We’ve had some memorable nights out and made some great memories all-round.”

Life is good when they are spending with family, going on golf trips with friends and getting paid astronomical amounts to do so.

Leishman reportedly signed with LIV for as much as $A30m and earned almost $11 million in prize money from LIV events this year, while Smith reportedly signed for roughly $150 million when the pair jumped ship together two years ago.

The downsides do not cut as deep as they might have in the past.

This week’s Australian PGA Championship will be the first event Leishman has played for world ranking points since last year’s Australian Open.

The 41-year-old has watched every major from the couch since he missed the cut at St Andrews two years ago when Smith claimed a historic major triumph at the 150th Open Championship.

The best mates were stuck at home for the Paris Olympics earlier this year – after they donned the green and gold in Tokyo – due to their world rankings plummeting.

Leishman is currently number 914 in the world, while one-time world number two Smith is 128th as his presence in the majors along with two appearances to date this Australian summer have prevented a slide as dramatic as Leishman’s.

Smith finished tied for second at last week’s NSW Open after a tied third finish at the Queensland PGA Championship two weeks prior.

The Queenslander drew plenty of praise for giving back to the PGA Tour of Australasia by playing in those events, but they were also part of a calculated plan for more silverware.

He labelled missing the cut at last year’s Australian PGA as “a terrible feeling” and he is striving to win his first Australian Open title.

The poor showings 12 months ago came off the back of little preparation after the LIV season ended, so this time around he has played competitively and been hitting the range consistently to rectify for letting down his home fans.

Smith is already feeling the benefits, issuing a warning to the rest of the field that his game is almost back to the level of when he became a major champion more than two years ago despite not lifting a trophy this year.

“I think (my game) is right there,” he said. “I would say the last year, it’s been really close. There’s been a lot of swing changes and sometimes you have to take a couple back to take a couple forward, and I feel like that’s really close.

“I’m hitting the ball particularly with my driver and my longer irons as good as I’ve ever hit it. The last few weeks I’ve felt very comfortable and that’s a feeling I haven’t had for a very long time.”

More team silverware for Ripper GC is also on Smith’s mind during the Australian summer.

He has been paying close attention to the up-and-comers on the local tour and raised the possibility of drafting one or some of them into his LIV Golf team – like he did with 2021 Australian PGA Championship winner Jed Morgan last year – despite the uncertainty that surrounds the golfing landscape.

Reports from the LIV and PGA Tour talks have indicated the LIV events will remain and Smith is going full steam ahead with his plans.

“It’s been awesome to see,” he said of the young talent he has played against in recent weeks. “For me, being a franchise owner, it’s something that you look at, young guys coming through.

“It’s been really cool to see because we don’t get to see that very often and being so far away all the time, sometimes you don’t even really get to look at the scores.

“It’s been cool to play with them, see how they compete and get a few ideas in the head.”