Elvis Smylie, who has faced a challenging first season in Europe, is looking forward to returning to the course where he achieved the biggest victory of his young career. The defending Australian PGA champion will compete again at Royal Queensland in November, aiming for a record prize pool after outlasting Cameron Smith to win the title in 2024.
The 23-year-old left-hander, and son of tennis legend Liz Smylie, secured his DP World Tour card with a two-shot victory last year, which also earned him a spot in this month’s Open Championship at Royal Port Rush. While he’s recorded two top-20 finishes in Europe this year, Smylie has missed the cut in his last two events. Despite a busy year ahead, he’s already excited to return home and defend his crown.
“Winning the Joe Kirkwood Cup for the first time was a huge honour and definitely the highlight of my career so far,” Smylie said. “I have some great memories of that final Sunday. It meant so much to win at home in front of my family and friends in one of Australia’s most important championships.”
He added, “Although there’s still a lot of this year to play out, I can’t wait to get back to RQ and try to do it all again.”
The PGA of Australia recently announced a prize money increase to a total of $2.5 million, up $500,000 from previous years. This makes it the richest tournament in Australia, surpassing even the prize pool at the upcoming Australian Open, where Rory McIlroy will headline at Royal Melbourne.
With the increased prize fund and continued co-sanctioning with the DP World Tour, the field is expected to be highly competitive. Top contenders likely to return include Smith, Min Woo Lee, and Adam Scott, who sat out last summer’s Australian events.
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