Elvis Smylie says his game has “gone to another level” since becoming a regular presence on DP World Tour leaderboards and the left-hander is feeling a sense of belonging ahead of his US major debut at the PGA Championship.
Smylie earned a DP World Tour card for two years when he won the co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship in November and he arrived this week at Charlotte’s renowned Quail Hollow course buoyed by two top-16 results at the Volvo China Open and the Hainan Classic.
“I feel like my game has gone to the next level after playing in Europe,” Smylie said on Monday. “I’m really excited to play in America for the first time as a professional. That’s something that I haven’t done yet so to be able to get right into the deep end is going to be really exciting.”
Smylie’s first big test as a card-carrying member of the European circuit was the limited field Nedbank Golf Challenge where he was T-14 before he made the cut at the elite Dubai Desert Classic and finished T-58 with big names in the field such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Ram, Adam Scott and Dubai winner Tyrrell Hatton.
“When I look around and see the names I’ve played against, Rory was in the field at the start of the year in Dubai,” Smylie said. “Rahm and Scott and world-class players that I’ve grown up watching on TV and then to be able to be competing against them, in the same tournament, I feel like I really do belong.”
By volume, the PGA Championship is among the strongest fields in golf given the PGA of America tries to invite most of the top 100 on the Official World Golf Rankings, although with LIV Golf not receiving its points the OWGR has become less accurate as an index.
Still, McIlroy and world No.1 Scottie Scheffler will be among a star-studded field at Quail Hollow but Smylie won’t be overawed. Smylie made his major championship debut at last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
“I don’t really get overwhelmed too much. I more think of this as an opportunity to see how good my game is against these guys,” Smylie said. “I played a practice round with Adam last year at the Open [Championship] and he was by far the most impressive ball striker.
“His ability to be able to shape shots left, right, high, low, he can do anything with the golf ball. So just visually seeing their games, I know know that I’m not too far away because I know that mentally I’m very gritty. When the going gets tough, the tough get going kind of thing, I embrace that. So this will be another great learning curve to see where my game’s at again.
“I want to be playing against the best players in the world. I want to be playing in majors and I want to take my game globally.”
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Smylie is one of seven Australians in the field this week alongside Cam Davis, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Scott, Cameron Smith and Karl Vilips. The 23-year-old Smylie will lean on his countrymen for practice rounds at Quail Hollow, given Smith, Day and Scott were in the field at the 2017 edition at the venue.
“Planning to have a practice round with a couple of the Aussies. Hopefully Min will be one of them and then Adam, Cam, Jason, yeah, whoever’s available,” Smylie said. “[For the tournament overall] I’d love to play all four rounds of the major. I think that’s a realistic goal for me. And then once we can get through those first two rounds well, then it’s just about really embracing what you’re feeling and just going after it.”
