Sunday, November 24, 2024
Elvis Smylie showed nerves of steel to fend off the challenge of his golfing idol Cam Smith to claim his maiden DP World Tour title with a wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
The 22-year-old only secured his first professional success at the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open last month on the PGA Tour of Australasia and continued his rich vein of form with a two-shot triumph at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
Smylie was one of two players to receive the Cameron Smith Scholarship in 2019 and he began Sunday’s round alongside the three-time winner of this event in an all-Australian final group including Marc Leishman.
The Gold Coast native and Smith shared the lead after the second round, but the 150th Open Champion endured a roller coaster front nine which consisted of three birdies and four bogeys as Smylie reached the turn with a three-shot lead thanks to a blemish-free 32.
The son of four-time grand slam doubles champion Liz Smylie displayed calmness with a number clutch par putts down the stretch for a flawless 67 in his total of 14 under par, finishing two clear of Smith.
“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 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 learnt so much and 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.
“I just told myself to find a way of getting it around and doing my best, executing every shot as well as I can and my short game was great, so I gave that the full credit that it deserves.
“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.”
Smylie and Smith got their battle under way immediately when both players carded opening birdies to move two clear of the chasing pack.
The 22-year-old showed his composure at the second by rolling in a lengthy birdie putt to reach 12 under, but Smith responded with a birdie at the third to rejoin Smylie at the summit.
Smith struggled for momentum with the flat stick as he three-putted at the par-three fourth, picked the shot back up at the fifth and bogeyed the sixth to remain one adrift.
However, Smylie kept his cool and when he rolled in his birdie effort from 10 feet at the same hole, he was two clear.
Smith’s colourful card continued with a birdie at the seventh, only for Smylie to match his idol to reach 14 under – a score he never deviated from.
The World Number 736’s advantage stretched to three as Smith finished his front nine with another dropped shot to slip back to 11 under alongside Anthony Quayle, who carded a flawless 63 to set the clubhouse target.
Smylie showed the touch of a champion as he holed clutch par putts at the tenth, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to remain three clear.
Smith, who bogeyed the 14th, birdied the 15th to climb back to 11 under, still three adrift, and looked to have blown his chance when he went over the back of the 17th Party Hole.
The rowdy spectators roared when Smith holed out with his second to trim the lead to two before Smylie, who landed his tee shot to five feet, tapped in for par.
The leader looked under pressure when his tee shot landed behind a tree and his second shot found the greenside bunker, but a stunning response to three feet completed a spotless card and secured the first title of the 2025 DP World Tour season.
Quayle rolled in a 110 foot putt for his eighth birdie of the day to finish in third alongside Leishman, who mixed three birdies and a bogey, at 11 under.
David Micheluzzi was one shot further back in solo fifth, while Cam Davis and Spaniard Angel Ayora were at nine under.
Former World Number One Jason Day led a group of seven players at eight under alongside fellow Australian Harrison Crowe, Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter, Austria’s Lukas Nemecz, Englishman John Parry and New Zealand’s Nick Voke.