![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Smylie finished 24-under par in LIV\u2019s first 72-hole event after storming home with a bogey free eight-under par final round of 64 to also help the all-Australian Ripper GC take the team title.<\/p>\n
Smylie shone down the stretch of the tournament that was played under lights – the only of its kind on the LIV schedule.<\/p>\n
Rahm mounted the pressure with four straight birdies to end the round, but Smylie made three back nine birdies to hold off his challengers.<\/p>\n
The Queenslander was a recipient of Cameron Smith\u2019s scholarship when he was a talented teenager, and he described claiming his first professional win since the 2024 Australian PGA Championship as \u201ca dream come true\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to come out here and make a statement. I wanted to prove that I\u2019m one of the best out here, and I feel like I\u2019ve done that, and it\u2019s only up from here,\u201d Smylie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just tried to embrace every moment. I knew there was a world-class field trying to chase me down, but I\u2019ve got so many amazing people around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a special feeling.\u201d <\/p>\n
Smylie\u2019s victory came in the first LIV event with Official Golf World Ranking points and he is expected to rise to a career-best 78th in the world as a result.<\/p>\n
His bank balance is also trending up with the win.<\/p>\n
Smylie earned roughly $1.75 million plying his trade in Europe last year.<\/p>\n
The left-hander comfortably eclipsed that with his first up victory.<\/p>\n
He earned $5.7m (US$4m) for winning the individual trophy.<\/p>\n
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – FEBRUARY 07: Elvis Smylie of Ripper GC celebrates after winning the final round on day four of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on February 07, 2026 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Smylie will also pocket his quarter-share, alongside Smith, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert, of Ripper GC\u2019s $4.28m (US$3m) team prize.<\/p>\n
As well as the financial windfall, the victory also is a major boost to Smylie\u2019s confidence of his first appearance at LIV\u2019s Adelaide event next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be really exciting playing in front of a home crowd,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great thing with LIV is it\u2019s a global tour. You are playing many different courses in so many different countries and being able to experience it all with the Ripper guys is going to be very cool, and an experience I can\u2019t wait for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Elvis Smylie made quite the entrance to LIV Golf, winning his debut event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2095,1724,63,689,133407,3193,238319,31290,5506,676,189813,2105,237729,43,24575,5507,5494,44,2041,2067,677,14640,145079,81490,238320,216704,41,39,42,40,2614,12000],"class_list":["post-465765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-america","tag-asia","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bank-balance","tag-cameron-smith","tag-debut-event","tag-debut-victory","tag-elvis-smylie","tag-final-round","tag-francois-nel","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-golfing-history","tag-headlines","tag-home-crowd","tag-lucas-herbert","tag-marc-leishman","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-special-feeling","tag-talented-teenager","tag-team-prize","tag-team-title","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-western-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}