Among the many things LIV Golf does differently is bring entire teams before the media in the lead-up to its events. It’s often a more engaging format than a single player and gives the team camaraderie a moment to shine.

When it was the turn of the all-Aussie Ripper GC yesterday afternoon, the foursome didn’t disappoint. They answered all questions put to them and spoke seriously when required, but they also bantered – among themselves and with members of the media – in a way befitting the league’s ethos of difference.

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There was an in-joke about Elvis Smylie and Valentine’s Day falling this Saturday (including a Valentine’s card slipped into Smylie’s golf bag that Australian Golf Digest viewed afterwards), talk of gentle hazing for the team’s newcomer and an overall sense of light-heartedness to assuage the seriousness of professional golf.

Of course, why wouldn’t you feel buoyed, when your squad is one-from-one on the circuit’s new season and your newest signing snared the individual trophy in his debut start? Especially when the first tournament rolls straight into what the team captain acknowledges is their “biggest week of the year”.

You could feel the up-vibe energy in the room yesterday afternoon. Smylie, who is fast gaining an Adam Scott-like level of respect and admiration for his combination of poise and maturity at 23, was clearly at ease with some of the stick his teammates were sending his way. He might have outshone his more experienced fellow Ripper GC players last weekend in the Saudi Arabian capital, but in sport’s eternal ‘what have you done lately?’ atmosphere, every week represents a clean slate, regardless of results.

“It’s been a whirlwind of a 48 hours,” Smylie said. “It’s been a quick turnaround since Riyadh. As soon as that final putt went in on the Saturday [night], we pretty much had to get ready, get on the charter and get here.

“I had a bit of time to reflect on the plane. I’ve had so many wonderful messages from friends and family, and it’s great to be home.”

That last line is a sentiment all four Rippers shared, mixed with unquestionable enthusiasm for the fourth edition of LIV Golf Adelaide, especially Smylie’s first time here.

“I think we all just can’t wait to get started,” Cam Smith said. “I think this is our biggest week of the year, particularly for us. It feels like it’s the league’s biggest event. It feels like everyone wants to play well here.”

“It’s a highlight of my year,” Marc Leishman added with surety. “It’s obviously a massive week for us to play in front of the home crowd [and] the course is as good as I’ve probably ever seen it. It looks like the weather is going to be perfect. It’s shaping up to be a massive week and hopefully it can be a big week for the Rippers.

“I’m also looking forward to Elvis, being able to watch him experience a massive week. Like Cam said, it’s a highlight of our year, and I know he’s going to enjoy it.”

There’s a balance required to manage this week, one the Rippers are still navigating.

“It’s the team’s biggest week. We all have so many commitments this week,” Smith said. “It’s draining, but it’s what we expect. We know that we have to deal with it. We’ve been here plenty of times before now. It is Elvis’s first time around, and I feel like the past couple years especially we’ve done a better job of managing the commitments and the outside stuff so we’re ready to play on Thursday.

“We’re all prepped for it. We’re playing great golf. We’re all playing confidently. It’s nice for Elvis to come out here and immediately shine like he did last week.”

The all-Aussie quartet has achieved mixed results in the first three stagings of LIV Golf Adelaide. The highlight was their epic sudden-death playoff victory against the all-South African Stinger GC (now the Southern Guards) two years ago. Yet aside from that, however, is mostly mediocrity. Smith shared third place behind Talor Gooch as Ripper ran eighth out of 12 teams in 2023. Despite claiming the team title a year later, Matt Jones’ T-9 was the Aussies’ best individual result that week, while T-21 (Leishman) and ninth out of 13 teams was the best they could muster last February.

It’s not easy to match performance with the heightened attention, of course. Which makes this week a mix of burden and bravado.

“I still feel like there’s a lot of pressure on myself and the team to perform well this week,” Smith said. “Like we’ve all said, it’s our biggest week of the year. To have the home crowd behind you, you kind of don’t want to let them down.

“Perhaps it’s a little bit different this year, but I don’t think it really changes what we’re thinking about and what we want to achieve on Sunday.”

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Amid timing and schedule changes in LIV’s early years, the side is still learning the best way to prepare for the Adelaide stop. After their experiences last year, it sounds like the squad now knows the right approach.

“The first couple years we were here, we actually come off a break after the Masters. We all kind of showed up really fresh and probably didn’t realise how much it took out of us until last year,” Smith added.

“Last year we flew from Riyadh, same as we did this weekend, and just felt like we didn’t have time to prepare and sleep and do all the necessary steps to be prepared for Thursday or Friday.

“We learned a bit off last year. Like I said, the commitments have probably got a little bit less, so we can spend more time on the golf course and more time kind of getting over the jet lag. There’s kind of certain things you need to do to get over that within three or four days. You want to be stepping up on Thursday ready to go. You don’t want to be sleepy or tired or feel like you need a coffee halfway through a round.

“That was definitely the case last year, and I feel like especially yesterday (Monday) we did a really good job of managing that. We didn’t have any commitments yesterday, and a lot of time in the sun, a bit of time in the gym and cold plunges and stuff, trying to get ready.

“I can only speak for myself, but I already feel like I’ve done a better job this year than I have in previous years.”

Meanwhile, leave it to Smylie, the new kid on the block, to show how quickly he’s learned what LIV is all about – in more ways than one.

“I think the important thing for me personally and I think from the team’s perspective is just not getting too complacent with what we achieved last week, which was something significant,” he said.

“I think we now want to look forward and look for the next mountain to climb, and I think the next mountain is climbing Adelaide, and achieving the team win at home would be incredibly special. I think we’ve got a really good shot. We’re all in great form, the course is in great condition and we’re all feeling really confident.”

Smylie gave the assembled media one last insight into his ever-increasing maturity. Just days removed from landing a $A6.7 million payday, he maintained a sense of perspective that reinforced his all-around appeal.

“The one thing that I’ve appreciated that I continued to see throughout last week is I felt like I’ve gained the respect of each player on the tour, which is something that means quite a lot to me. Going into a new environment, you don’t really know what to expect, so you want to feel like you’re well-respected by your competitors, and that’s something that meant a lot to me.”

And to the whole team.

FULL LIV GOLF ADELAIDE COVERAGE HERE