All you can eat: Mexican menu fuels Smylie Euro ticket
Murray Wenzel |
Elvis Smylie can’t eat enough burritos as the slender Australian golfing talent bulks up to complement the technical tweaks that have propelled him to the European tour.
The 22-year-old lived up to his rockstar name at Brisbane’s Royal Queensland course on Sunday, staving off three-time winner Cameron Smith’s best to win by two shots.
Victory followed a WA Open title last month and included a two-year exemption on Europe’s DP World Tour.
A gifted amateur, Smylie missed his first eight cuts when briefly exposed to that circuit three years ago.
But the son of former tennis pros Peter and Liz, who won Olympic doubles bronze and a swag of doubles and mixed doubles majors, regrouped and came again.
A change of coach – Smylie succeeded in joining Ritchie Smith’s star stable that includes Hannah Green and siblings Minjee and Min Woo Lee – headlined an overhaul that also included a new fitness guru, physiotherapist and psychologist.
With that’s come a new diet.
“In order to make the changes, technically, I’ve made, I’ve had to get stronger,” he said after holding his nerve with 11-straight pars down the stretch.
“As well as putting a lot of load on the gym I’ve tried to eat as much food as I can.
“So I’m getting on that chicken, rice … Mexican diet to help that.
“I’ve put on about four-and-a-half kilos in an eight-month span but it’s hard with such a fast metabolism and weeks like this, with a lot of stress.”
Playing partner Marc Leishman, a former world No.12 who finished third on Sunday, was impressed by the young man’s resolve.
“His wedge play was good, he putted great with those key putts (for par saves) on 12, 15 and elsewhere,” he said.
“He took his medicine when he had to. He just made the right decisions and hit the right shots which is what you have to do to win. Impressive.”
Smylie will play the Australian Open in Melbourne from Thursday and admits he’ll need to make new plans after his gutsy Brisbane win.
But Smylie, drenched by mate David Micheluzzi and embraced by teary parents immediately after another nerveless par save on the 18th, is confident he’s prepared for the international stage.
“There were nerves, but I thought I handled them well,” he said.
“The team I have around me is the team that can take me to what I want to do in this game.
“My mum was bawling her eyes out, so was Dad; they know what it takes to get to the top and know what I’ve gone through.
“For them to be along the ride with me, it’s amazing and to be there to witness today was the icing on the cake.”
AAP