BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian Elvis Smylie shot a 4-under 67 to win the 54-hole Australian PGA by two shots on Sunday after a final-round shootout with compatriot and former mentor Cameron Smith.
Smylie finished with 14-under 199, two ahead of Smith who had a final round of 2-under 69. Smith’s LIV tour teammate Mark Leishman and Australian Athony Quayle shared third place with 11-under at Royal Queensland par-71.
Heavy rain showers and an unplayable course on Friday forced the abandonment of the second round and made the joint Australasian PGA and European Tour event a 54-hole tournament.
Five years ago, Smylie, the son of former Australian tennis pro Liz Smylie. won the Cameron Smith Scholarship, which allowed him to spend a week with Smith in Florida, where he was able to learn how to live and train as a PGA Tour professional.
Now 22, Smylie entered Sunday’s final round tied for the lead with Smith at 10 under par.
Smith won the 2022 British Open at St. Andrews and has previously won the Australian PGA in 2017, 2018 and 2022. Smylie scored a decisive victory at the Western Australian Open last month.
The pair traded birdies until the sixth hole where there was a two-shot turnaround when Smylie birdied and Smith made bogey. Smylie, who led after an opening round 65, made four birdies in his first seven holes and played his outside nine in four-under 32, shooting at 14 under.
He had some good ups and downs under pressure on the par-four 10th and 12th holes, using his three woods to send the ball onto the greens from close range.
With a bogey on the ninth hole, Smith shot 35, after falling into a tie for second place at 11 under with Quayle, Mark Leishman and Australian David Micheluzzi.
Smith had another bogey on the par-4 14th, dropping him to 10 under, while Quayle finished with an 8-under 63 to take an early club lead at 11 under.
Smylie was under pressure at the par-5 15th when he hit his second hole left of the green. Once again he struggled to salvage par while Smith birdied to get back to 11 under, cutting the lead to three shots.
Smith cut Smylie’s lead to two when he birdied the par-3 17th, earning cheers from the crowd on the tournament’s celebration hole. Smylie’s six-foot birdie putt went wide.
Smylie kept his composure as he placed his tee shot on the 18th into light rough with the broad trunk of a tree between him and the green 186 yards away. It wrapped around the tree, but into a bunker at the edge of the green.
Smylie played a nerveless shot from the sand to three feet and made par, finishing with 11 straight pars. He managed to move up and down from precarious positions six times out of the last nine.
“It’s a dream come true,” Smylie said. “I won’t forget that day playing with Cam and (Leishman).
“My short game was great; I definitely saved myself.
The Australian PGA is the first event of the 2025 European Tour season.
Next week, many of these same players will travel to Melbourne for the Australian Open, also on the European Tour. It is played at the same time as the Women’s Australian Open on the famous sandbelt courses of Kingston Heath and Victoria.
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