Elvis Smylie withstood 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith to take home his first DP World Tour title at the season-opening BMW Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane.
The 22-year-old, who is the son of former four-time tennis doubles champion Liz Smylie, came into the final round at Royal Queensland neck-and-neck with Smith, who is a three-time winner of this event.
But the World No. 736, who received the Cameron Smith Scholarship back in 2019 and earned a first professional win of his career last month, did not let any nerves dictate his play on the final day as he sunk four birdies in the first seven holes to create a three-shot gap between him and the LIV golfer. Smith put pressure on Smylie down the back nine but the Queenslander kept his cool by making a number of par saves to remain at the top of the leaderboard.
The press kept coming during the closing stages of the tournament as Smith birdied the 15th and then holed out for another at the penultimate hole to cut Smylie’s lead down to two. However, Smylie held his nerve by saving yet another par at the last to card a four-under 67 and finish of 14 under, cementing a maiden victory on the DP World Tour.
“It’s a dream come true,” Smylie said. “I just said to Matt [Clayton, caddie] that I won’t forget this day, you know, playing with Cam and Leish there.
“I’ve looked up to these guys since I was a kid and just being in their presence and to compete against them for the title, I’ve learned so much and [I’m] just so grateful and so honoured right now.
“My short game was great, I definitely saved myself in that department. I was pretty average off the tee, but golf is a game of imperfection and today that was a sign of that.”
Smylie added: “My mum and dad have been with me every step of the way. I saw my mum in the corner there, tearing up before I holed that last putt – so everyone who has been on this journey with me, they know how hard I’ve worked to be here and hopefully this is just the start of good things to come.”
It was an all Australian top five which saw Marc Leishman and Anthony Quayle finish tied-third on 11 under and David Micheluzzi in fifth on 10 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the DP World Tour schedule is the ISPS Handa Australian Open taking place between Nov 28-Dec 1 at Kingston Heath GC in Australia.