Elvis Smylie shows nerves of steel to fend off challenge from his golf idol life golf Star Cameron Smith to take his virginity DP World Tour Won the BMW Australian PGA Championship by two strokes.
The 22-year-old took his first career win at the Bowra & O'Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia last month, finishing with a two-stroke victory at Royal Queensland Golf Club The advantages continue to be abundant.
Smiley, one of two players to receive the Cameron Smith Scholarship in 2019, starts Sunday's game alongside three-time winners in an All-Australian finalist group that includes Marc Leishman.
The Gold Coast native was tied with Smith for the lead after the second round, but the 150th British Open champion endured a roller coaster ride on the front nine during Sunday's weather-shortened event. , which included three birdies and four bogeys, as Smiley entered the turn with three strokes. The lead was aided by an unblemished 32.
The son of four-time major doubles champion Liz Smylie kept his cool and drained several crucial par putts late in the match to shoot a perfect 67 and finish at 14 under. , 2 strokes ahead of Smith.
The battle between Smiley and Smith began immediately, with both players making birdies to move two strokes ahead of their pursuers. Smiley showed composure on the second hole, sinking a long birdie putt to get to 12 under, but Smith responded with a birdie on the third hole to climb back to the top.
Smith three-putted the par-3 fourth, struggled to gain momentum with an even shot, hit it back on the fifth and bogeyed the sixth, still one shot behind. However, Smiley kept his cool and was two shots ahead when he birdied from 10 feet on the same hole.
Smith continued his fine run with a birdie on the seventh hole, but Smiley matched his idol at 14 under – a score he never strayed from. The world No. 736's advantage extended to three shots as Smith completed another short drive on the front nine to slip to 11 under alongside Anthony Quayle, who shot a perfect 63 to set the club’s goals.
Smiley showed a championship touch by hitting crucial par putts on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes to maintain a three-point lead, while a raucous crowd roared at Smith on the 17th hole , as he holed the ball on the second hole. Lead to two.
The leader looked under pressure when his tee shot on his final shot fell behind a tree and his second shot hit a greenside bunker, but a stunning reaction from three feet capped a flawless card card and secured the first title of the 2025 Race to Dubai. Take the lead early in the game.
Quayle made a 110-foot putt for his eighth birdie and tied for third with Leishman, who had three birdies and one bogey to finish at 11 under. David Micheluzzi was one shot back in solo fifth, while Cam Davis and Spain's Angel Ayora were one shot below Par 9.
Former world No. 1 Jason Day led seven players at eight under, including Australians Harrison Crow and Dane Rasmus Nergaard-Petersen , South Africa's Aldridge Potgett, Austria's Lucas Nemetz, Britain's John Parry and New Zealand's Nick Walker.
“It feels great knowing that I now have a job overseas,” Smiley said.
“Going into the start of the Australian season, I knew there was going to be a lot of back-to-back events. It was important for me to play a lot of competitive golf because I wanted to continue to improve. I feel like, as each week goes on, my Competitiveness is getting stronger and stronger.
“So the opportunity to go overseas and play on the DP World Tour, where there are a lot of tournaments in a row, I thought it would be great for me.
“This is a dream come true. I just said to Matt (Clayton, caddy), I'm not going to forget this day, you know, playing with Cam and Lish, guys I grew up looking up to, just being there I learned a lot in front of them and competing against them for the title, and now I'm very grateful and honored.
“My short game was great and I really saved myself there. My tee shot was pretty average, but golf is an imperfect game and that was a sign today.
“I just told myself to find a way to figure it out and do my best, execute every shot the best I can, and my short game is great, so I gave it all the credit it deserved.
“I saw my mom in the corner, in tears right before I made that last putt, so everybody who’s been on this journey with me, they know how hard I’ve worked to get here. , hopefully this is just the beginning of good things to come.”
