‘Fuel to the fire’: Smylie sets sights on major leap
Steve Larkin |
Australia’s freshly minted multi-millionaire Elvis Smylie is fuelled by a desire to crash his way into golf’s major tournaments.
And the 23-year-old says victory in his first LIV Golf tournament in Saudi Arabia last weekend has made his aspirational goal a realistic prospect.
Smylie jumped from world No.133 to 77th after his stunning success in Riyadh, benefiting from LIV Golf results being placed on the global ranking system for the first time.
“I have goals that I want to achieve from a ranking point of view,” Smylie said in Adelaide on Tuesday.
“And I’m continuing to progress in the direction I want to and play my way into majors, which is something I’m definitely very passionate about doing.
“Top 50 in the world means that you get in all four majors, which I’m very close to achieving.
“So it’s great that we do get recognition. At the end of the day, good golf takes care of itself.
“Ultimately the (US) Masters is something that’s on my mind now.
“That’s a conversation that I can start to have and that is fuel to the fire for me. Let’s see what happens these next few weeks.”
In past years, LIV results weren’t included in the Official World Golf Rankings, but under a change this year, top-10 finishers at LIV tournaments earn ranking points.
Smylie – who pocketed $US4 million ($A5.7 million) for winning his maiden LIV tournament plus $US750,000 ($A1.1 million) as his share of his Ripper GC saluting in the team competition – is the first beneficiary.
His previous biggest golfing cheque was $A340,000 for his Australian PGA victory in 2024.
But for the Gold Coast-born golfer, earning the respect of his LIV competitors was the biggest bonus from his feat.
“The one thing that I’ve appreciated, that I continued to see throughout last week, is I felt like I have gained the respect of each player on the tour,” he said at the Grange Golf Club ahead of LIV Golf’s Adelaide tournament starting on Thursday.
“Going into a new environment, you don’t really know what to expect.
“So you want to feel like you’re well-respected by your competitors, and that is something that meant a lot to me.”
Smylie said he had little time to celebrate his LIV achievement, when he held off a final-round charge from Spain’s former world No.1 and dual major winner Jon Rahm.
“It has been a whirlwind,” he said.
“It has been a quick turnaround since Riyadh. As soon as that final putt went in on Saturday, we pretty much had to get ready, get on the charter and get here.
“I had a bit of time to reflect on the plane. I have had so many wonderful messages from family and friends, and it’s great to be home.”
AAP
