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Ultimately, it took Elvis Smylie three years to become an overnight sensation but the manner of his BMW Australian PGA Championship win at Royal Queensland was proof enough that this is no flash in the pan.
Paired with three-time champion Cameron Smith – whose scholarship he won just five years earlier – Smylie played like a seasoned campaigner and not the 22-year-old who has already seen the struggle that professional golf can be.
Having burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old who very nearly won in his first professional start in Sydney, Smylie saw the golf world open up to the promise of his potential.
Sponsor invites to play a dozen DP World Tour events didn’t yield a single dollar won, quests at Qualifying School also coming up agonisingly short.
But when he turned up to play the WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie in October, there was a confident air about Smylie.
Almost 12 months into working with WA-based coach Ritchie Smith, strength and conditioning coach Luke Mackey, physiotherapist Martin McInnes and mental coach Michael Lloyd, the Smylie puzzle suddenly looked completely assembled,
If not for a wayward tee shot on 18 he’d have had the outright lead through 54 holes at the WA PGA; a week later he tamed cyclonic winds at Mandurah Country Club to edge Jak Carter in a playoff to win the WA Open.
It was tangible proof to everyone – including himself – that he has what it takes to win, his composure under immense pressure at RQ a month later an exclamation point that has propelled him instantly onto the DP World Tour with what is effectively a two-year exemption.
It took an eagle at the 72nd hole to deny Stephanie Kyriacou victory at The Amundi Evian Championship in France.
That’s how close the New South Wales star came to joining the exclusive club of Australian major champions in an enthralling final round at Evian Resort Golf Club.
Leading by one through 54 holes, Kyriacou spent much of the final day engaged in a tug-of-war with American Lauren Coughlin.
Yet as the pair went toe-to-toe and Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit (63) posted 17-under in the clubhouse, it was Japan’s Ayaka Furue (65) who rode a hot putter over the final five holes to finish at 19-under and edge the Aussie by a shot.
Trailing Coughlin by three standing on the 14th tee, Furue dragged herself back into the mix with three straight birdies and then closed it out with an eagle at the 72nd hole, Kyriacou making birdie to claim outright second and her best finish in a major championship.
Read: https://www.golf.org.au/gallant-kyriacou-second-at-evian-championship/
As the back nine unfolded, Kyriacou was fighting to stay within range of Coughlin.
A steady stream of pars kept Kyriacou in contention until she joined Coughlin at 17-under with a silky pitch and birdie from six feet at the par-5 15th.
She took dead aim at the par-3 16th and converted from four feet to take the outright lead at 18-under, one clear of Furue as Coughlin dropped two back with her first bogey in 29 holes.
Kyriacou and Furue arrived at the 72nd tee tied with Tavatanakit at 17-under par.
Furue’s tee shot finished in the first cut just right of the fairway but Kyriacou was forced to lay up after missing in the deep rough left of the short grass.
There was an anxious moment as Furue’s second just cleared the water front of the green before settling 10 feet above the hole, sounding the death knell to Kyriacou’s major aspirations… for now.
As she continues to establish her presence on the LPGA Tour, it was a performance under pressure that confirmed Kyriacou has what it takes to convert the next opportunity that comes her way.
Photo: Olivier Chassignole/AFP via Getty Images
A dominant force on the senior amateur circuit domestically in 2023, Nadene Gole took her winning ways to the world in 2024.
Taking out all Australian state titles and then the Australian Senior Amateur title last year, the Victoria Golf Club member was the first Australian to win the R&A Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in July and then continued her trailblazing ways when she became the first Australian to claim the US Senior Women’s Amateur at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle.
Read: https://www.golf.org.au/gole-claims-randa-womens-senior-amateur-and-slice-of-history/
Facing 2022 champion Shelly Stouffer of Canada in the final, it was Gole who jumped out to a small early lead, taking a 1-up advantage with a par on the second hole.
Stouffer quickly levelled the match with a par on the third, but Gole responded by notching the first birdie of the day on the par-4 fourth to reclaim her advantage. A bogey from Stouffer on the seventh allowed Gole to stretch her lead to 2-up.
The match was all tied after ten holes, but after a birdie on the 12th hole to regain the lead, momentum would officially shift back to the Australian on the 13th, who followed up a tap-in par by Stouffer by pouring in an 18-foot slider for par to halve the hole.
Read: https://www.golf.org.au/gole-creates-history-at-the-us-senior-womens-amateur/
Hole wins on 14 and 15 would extend the lead to 3 up, the largest of the match, and one that would not be relinquished.
He was already a bona fide celebrity at Willunga Golf Club in Adelaide but the golf world couldn’t get enough of Steve Alderson following his emotional victory at a G4D Tour event in Spain.
Affectionately known as ‘Spud’ for his love of chips, Alderson became the first person with autism to win a G4D Tour event, taking out the G4D Tour @ Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters by an incredible nine strokes.
Yet it was not so much his performance on the golf course that caused people to fall in love with his story, but his emotional post-round speech where he spoke about his struggles with bullying and was interviewed live on The Today Show just hours after finishing his round.
Winner of the Webex All Abilities Players Series event at Willunga in 2023, Alderson returned home to a hero’s welcome and interest from global media organisations.
As he prepared to defend his Willunga win in October, Alderson spoke with golf magazines, radio stations and CNN International, completing an extraordinary two-week period with a second Webex All Abilities Players Series victory at Willunga.
But it didn’t end there.
‘Spud’ won the net event at the G4D Tour Series Finale in Dubai and then made his debut at the Australian All Abilities Championship at Kingston Heath Golf Club in conjunction with the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
It stands as a pathway or purgatory. Sitting one rung below the promised land, secondary tours the world over are the equivalent of quicksand: The longer you stay there, the harder it is to get out.
Queenslander Cassie Porter had two top-10s and finished 54th in the Race for the Card standings in her rookie season on the Epson Tour in 2023, the primary pathway to the LPGA Tour.
It gave her the grounding to push ahead in her second season, a year in which she broke through with a one-stroke victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan.
From that moment forward, Porter was in position to secure one of the 15 cards to the LPGA Tour in 2025 yet wasn’t guaranteed until after the final round of the Epson Tour Championship.
A 5-under-par round of 66 in Round 3 elevated Porter from 42nd to 22nd on the Tour Championship leaderboard, a 2-under 69 in the final round enough to end the week tied for 17th and claim the 10th of the LPGA Tour cards on offer.
By moving inside the top 10, Porter receives the Category 9 exemption category on the LPGA Tour next year while those who finish 11-15 earn the Category 15 exemption category.
A third-place finish in the opening event of the season was the ideal start to 2024 for Porter, who had two additional top-10s along with her victory to join fellow Aussies Hannah Green and Gabriela Ruffels as recent graduates of the Epson Tour.
Unheralded. Under-appreciated. Under the radar. Unperturbed. You might win a bet if you ask your golf mate to name the lone Aussie to win on the PGA TOUR in 2024, but Cam Davis is chasing trophies, not public recognition.
Yes, he would have dearly loved a Presidents Cup appearance at Royal Montreal having been part of the Internationals team two years prior, but Davis achieved a special career milestone with a second PGA TOUR title this year at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
With putts repeatedly burning the edge of the hole and a lasered second shot into the par-5 14th that somehow dribbled into the water late on Sunday, it looked as though the golf gods would conspire against Davis.
Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee (69) made a back-nine charge to earn a share of the lead at 18-under but made bogey on the final hole when his approach shot finished in the rough behind the green and he was unable to get up-and-down for par.
Davis, too, needed to scramble from the rough on 18 for a 2-under 70 to claim the clubhouse lead at 18-under, Akshay Bhatia’s par miss on the 72nd hole handing a stunned Davis a treasured win.
The fact that it came at the same venue as his first win three years earlier was another element of serendipity for the 29-year-old New South Welshman who now spends the majority of his year in Seattle.
In his winner’s press conference, Davis revealed how at the suggestion of his wife, Jonika, Davis had undertaken two weeks of hypnotherapy in the lead-up to his one-stroke victory.
Read: https://pga.org.au/news/aussies-on-tour-davis-stunned-by-second-pga-tour-title/
Davis was also part of one of the most compelling storylines for Aussies in 2024 after he and Adam Scott faced off in a playoff at US Open qualifying at Springfield, Ohio.
It took three holes for Davis to best one of his childhood heroes, threatening to bring to an end Scott’s streak of 91 consecutive majors.
Scott ultimately received an exemption by the USGA on the Monday of the tournament, his record now standing at 93 majors and counting.
Such was Josiah Gilbert’s performances playing for Auburn University in the NCAA in 2024, there is a tug-of-war taking place in Gilbert’s mind as to which country he will represent during his professional career.
Gilbert’s US college season was highlighted by a historic NCAA Division 1 championship for Auburn, the first in the school’s history,
He was twice named SEC Golfer of the Week and won the Valero Texas Collegiate Individual Champion title. In addition, Gilbert claimed the individual gold medal at the Spirit International where he partnered Kai Komulainen as Australia finished third in the men’s competition.
Born in Queensland, Gilbert grew up in Perth and established himself as one of the state’s most promising juniors.
Early in the COVID pandemic, Gilbert’s American parents decided to return to their home country, in part to help foster their son’s ambitions in golf.
Such has been his success, the 20-year-old dual citizenship holder is now weighing up where to pledge his allegiance.
Photo: Courtesy Auburn University
It was hands down the best season by any Australian without a win in 2024.
In his second year as a full-time member of the PGA TOUR Champions, Victorian Richard Green was in the hunt for the season-long Charles Schwab Cup until the very last hole, despite not logging a single victory.
His year began with back-to-back top-10 finishes but it was at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship where Green’s season of near misses took flight.
Read: https://www.golf.org.au/aussies-on-tour-green-second-again-on-champions-tour/
That would be the first of five runner-up finishes on the year – two of which came in major championships and one in a playoff loss to Steve Stricker at the Sanford International.
Seventeen years after setting a new course record in the 2007 Open Championship, Green returned to Carnoustie for The Senior Open Championship and finished second to KJ Choi by two strokes.
Read: https://pga.org.au/news/aussies-on-tour-bennett-wins-green-second-again/
He was also third at the US Senior Open Championship, the 53-year-old amassing $US2,168,079 in prize money without any additions to the trophy cabinet.
Photo: Phil Inglis/Getty Images
A slam-dunked birdie putt from 20 feet by Luke Wines on the final hole has clinched Warrnambool Golf Club a thrilling victory at The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast.
Ten teams made the cut to contest the final round of The Championship Final on The Palms Course on Thursday with nine teams left to fight it out for the Consolation Final.
Shepparton Golf Club shot 17.7-under par in the final round to claim the Consolation Final, just 0.6 of a shot ahead of Moranbah Golf Club whose PGA Professional, Josh Bevan, produced one of the highlights of the week with a hole-in-one at the par-3 12th.
Leaders since day one, the Warrnambool team of Luke and Matthew Wines, Tom Batten, Ross Corbett and PGA Professional Ben Ford started brilliantly on Thursday, playing the first nine holes in 11.3-under par.
They maintained that pace with three straight birdies after the turn yet opened the door to the Kooindah Waters Golf Club team with pars at 13, 15 and 17.
A birdie at 17 and nett eagle at the par-4 18th saw Kooindah Waters post 56.6-under par, giving the Warrnambool boys a simple equation that Ford was not willing to share.
“Our scorer told us that we needed a birdie at one of the last two, but there was no chance I was telling these boys,” said Ford, who is based at Eynesbury Golf Club in Melbourne and joined the team at the Regional Qualifier.
“If I told him we needed to hole it to win, it would’ve been missing by three metres.
“I was the only one that went nuts at first. Then I told them it was for the win and then we went really crazy.”
Lead putter as he had been all week, Luke Wines stepped up to the downhill 20-footer for the win and slammed it into the back of the hole, the ball popping up for a final look before disappearing into the bottom of the cup to clinch victory by just 0.3 of a shot.
Even more remarkable was the fact that the left-handed Luke switched to putting right-handed four weeks ago.
“I was putting so bad, I was missing everything,” said Luke.
“One of the boys mentioned it, I just borrowed a mate’s putter and went from there.
“I’ll definitely stick with it; I can’t go back to left-handed now.”
After a heart-breaking one-point grand final loss playing for the North Warrnambool Football Club, Luke believes their victory at Sanctuary Cove will come as something of a shock back home.
“I think most people will be happy for us,” he added.
“They were surprised we got up here, to be honest with you.
“Didn’t expect much from four hacks from Warrnambool but we’ve come here and managed to win, which is nice.”
The 19 Scramble teams were joined by Tour players Michael Sim and Cassie Porter on Thursday, Sim playing the par-3 eighth with each team and Porter the par-3 12th, Porter not required when Bevan made his first career ace for the Moranbah team.
Photo: Lachie Millard/PGA of Australia
Warrnambool have maintained a slight edge after Kooindah Waters missed a golden opportunity to take the outright lead on day two of The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove.
Leading by 1.1 shots overnight, the Warrnambool Golf Club team of Luke and Matthew Wines, Ross Corbett, Tom Batten and Eynesbury Professional Ben Ford had a nett score of 17.3-under par on Wednesday for a two-round total of 37.6-under par.
Their lead is just 0.2 of a shot from the Kooindah Waters team of Jordan Deeble, Lee Moore, Dean Smith, Mitchell McDonald and Toukley Golf Club Professional Mitchell Brown, who could only manage a par on their final hole at the par-5 10th in Round 2.
Less than five shots separates all 10 teams who made the two-round cut, setting the stage for an enthralling third and final round at Sanctuary Cove’s The Palms Course on Thursday.
As their playing days for the North Warrnambool Eagles draw to a close, the Warrnambool boys have turned to golf. They are now the envy of their mates as they close in on Championship Final victory at their first attempt.
“We’ve had a few mates who have actually come up here a few years back,” said Matthew Wines.
“The three of us are only 12 months into playing golf. We only started around December last year so this is our first real golf trip.”
Although more confident off the tee in their second look at The Palms Course, Warrnambool were somewhat slow out of the blocks.
They were 4-under through seven holes courtesy of a nett albatross at the par-5 14th but picked up 6.3 shots in their final five holes to post a number, closing out with a nett eagle on the par-5 10th.
“We had to take Tommy’s drive and he smacked it down there to about 205 to the flag,” said Ford.
“We had to take it no matter what and then our highest handicapper pulls out a hybrid from nowhere, hits it to about 25 feet and then sinks the putt.
“We went nuts. We needed that one.”
Kooindah Waters needed a birdie on their final hole – the par-5 10th – to snatch the lead but had to settle for a par despite being 190 metres out hitting their second.
It was a disappointing finish for a team that was 12.2-under par through nine holes.
“It would’ve been nice to close it out with a birdie,” admitted PGA Professional Mitchell Brown.
“Yesterday we holed a lot of long putts – we holed three bombs yesterday – but today we were just in that mid-range and didn’t really make any of those.”
Lithgow Golf Club played their way into the final round with the low round of the day on Wednesday.
The team of Brandan Horner, Glenn Piggott, Harrison Bender, Nathan Mitchell and PGA Professional Gavin MacPherson combined for a nett score of 20.6-under par to climb into seventh position, less than four shots off the lead.
The final round begins at 8am AEST on Thursday with Tour players Michael Sim and Cassie Porter to join the teams as they strive for Scramble Championship glory.
