Elvis Smylie's first sit-down interview as a Ripper GC player – Australian Golf Digest

It was news that left many in Australian golf a little stunned:

Elvis Smylie is going to sign with LIV Golf and become Ripper GC’s newest member.

What? No megabucks-deal to land Min Woo Lee and those crisp-white chef hats?

Not a nice, little nest egg for our aging – very gracefully, mind you – Masters champion Adam Scott before he hits the big 5-Oh?

And no tempting Jason Day and his very, ahem, loud Malbon ensembles to Adelaide’s Watering Hole?

Nope.

Elvis Smylie, the 23-year-old, clean-cut lefty from sunny Queensland and son of tennis professionals Peter and Elizabeth Smylie. While it seemingly took an eternity to be rubber-stamped by LIV officials (“Wise men say only fools rush in,” hey, Elvis?), Ripper GC got their man.

“I hope they paid him a lot of money,” said one highly respected voice in Australian golf. Don’t worry, Smylie’s not going without dinner anytime soon.

The 2024 Australian PGA champion seemed destined to chase a PGA Tour card via his exploits on the DP World Tour when his mentor, Cam Smith, came knocking. Now, the young man that shares the name as the king of rock and roll will be hoping he has the stage presence on LIV’s rolling roadshow to match.

Just moments before Smylie revealed to the world he was making the big leap to LIV Golf, he sat down for a chat with Australian Golf Digest to give us the full story. As articulate as ever, Smylie was happy to cover the lot – when LIV contract negotiations started, whether Brooks Koepka’s bombshell exit from LIV made him hesitate, if he still cares about the majors, and how his fellow Aussie pros reacted to the news. This is unfiltered.

This is Elvis.

Australian Golf Digest: Elvis has entered the building…
Elvis Smylie: [Laughs] Yeah, I’m stoked. It’s nice to have it all signed, sealed and delivered.

It feels like golf’s worst-kept secret is finally out. I’m sure it’s been an exciting process but also a difficult one, dealing with all the innuendo from family, friends and media?
I think it’s been difficult yet exciting at the same time because I’ve wanted to obviously tell the news for quite a few weeks now. But I knew that I wanted to try to build it all up to this week and then make the announcement. My family and friends are obviously over the moon with my decision and they’re fully supportive and I’m really looking forward to this next step because I think LIV Golf has so much potential to really grow from a global point of view. I’m excited to be on the Ripper GC team with Cam (Smith), ‘Leish’ (Marc Leishman) and ‘Herbie’ (Lucas Herbert).

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there was some talk last year about you potentially linking up with Ripper GC but things went nowhere. What convinced you that now is the right time to sign on the dotted line?
I think the first conversation I had was actually in February last year at the Adelaide event. I went down there as a spectator, and I got to see how much of a success that event was, not just from an Australian point of view, but then also from a global point of view. Having more than 100,000 people spectate that event and seeing how it’s really getting younger people into the game of golf… I truly do believe that it’s growing the game in a healthy way. And, so, conversations did start roughly about 11 months ago. But I think as each month has passed, I’ve understood more and more what LIV’s vision is and where they want the league to end up, and what they want to achieve on a truly global scale. And the more I understood that, the more (LIV) really appealed to me. I feel like that team aspect is big, too. I’m looking forward to being a part of that because, as you know, golf can be quite an isolating and individual sport. So, to be able to have guys like Cam, Leish and Herbie, but then also you’ve got Jon Rahm, you’ve got Tyrrell Hatton, you’ve got Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau – all these world-class athletes that I can rely on for advice. You don’t get that opportunity very often, so, I think joining LIV is a really good decision on my behalf and I’m excited for it.

You’ve always struck me as a guy who surrounds himself with good people, folks you can rely on for counsel. Was there anyone in particular who helped you come to this decision?
Well, it takes a village in order for me to be able to achieve what I’ve achieved. But, in terms of advice, I think the first people that I can mention are my parents. My parents have experienced this kind of thing in a high-level, professional sporting environment (tennis) for a very long time. So, they know what’s required from a work ethic point of view, surrounding yourself with good people, making good decisions and all that. I feel like they’ve been great at being able to help me make my own decisions rather than pushing me down a certain path. They’ve been very open to helping me, as I call it, see both sides of the coin, and I feel like I’ve done a good job with that. My parents have been a huge part of that.

I guess you’ve had to learn to ‘wheel and deal’ pretty quickly, given your rapid rise up the ranks?
I still remember years and years ago when I first started out on the Aussie tour, and you obviously go through different phases of your progression, playing on the Aussie tour. That served me great purpose, being able to play week after week around different places in Australia. Then I won the Australian PGA and that obviously changed a lot of things. I got to play a full year in Europe last year and that served a great purpose as well, because when you’re away from home and when you’re away from familiar environments, you really do have to figure out how to get the best out of yourself on a day-to-day basis because everything’s just so unique. So, that last year where I got to travel a lot by myself, I experienced a lot, and each experience has helped shape me into the person I am.

You mentioned Tyrrell earlier, who was able to achieve great things last year as a dual LIV-DP World Tour player, earning selection in the Ryder Cup and so forth. Do you plan on continuing your DP World Tour connection moving forward?
Yes. I mean, the thing that’s really important for me in my career is being able to play on a global scale. I think the great thing with LIV Golf and the DP World Tour is they’re both world tours, and that’s something that I’m a big advocate for. I think you learn so much on a week-to-week basis travelling to so many different countries and climates and conditions. So, LIV is definitely the priority, but I would like to try to play as many DP World Tour events as I can in the lead-up to LIV events so I’m as sharp as I can be by the time the LIV events roll around.

How have your fellow Aussies on the PGA Tour taken the news? Guys like Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, who I know you look up to?
I actually spent a bit of time with Min over in Perth before I came over here for this announcement. I obviously share the same coach as him (Ritchie Smith). So, we had a bit of a pre-season together and he was quite supportive of my decision. He understands that, in golf, everyone has to look out for themselves in a way. And everyone has different goals and different ambitions. He was really supportive of my decision to go and I obviously wish him all the best in his career, like he wishes all the best for me and my career. So, it goes both ways. Fortunately I’ve also got a good relationship with Adam, and even though it is a different path to what he’s gone down, I think he will have my best interests. I respect a lot of what ‘Scotty’ has done for the game of golf and what he’s achieved and how much of a positive impact he’s had in growing the game in Australia. So, even though it’s a different path that he’s on, I still believe that him and I can keep a great relationship moving forward.

You’ve obviously got a bit of a history there with Cam, being a former scholarship winner of his. He no doubt played an integral role in your decision to join Ripper GC?
Yeah. Going back to 2019, I got awarded the scholarship that he gives out every year to two lucky Queenslanders. I think I was 16 or 17 at the time. I got to go spend a week with him in his Florida home, practising and playing and just seeing what makes Cameron Smith tick. And it was a really cool insight. Then, as the years have gone on, we’ve obviously just kept in touch and I’ve been lucky enough to have been paired with him in a few events, including at the first two days of the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in December. He’s obviously world-class at what he does so it’s going to be fun learning off him and trying to get better each day.

Any particular pearls of wisdom that he’s passed on, besides “sign for Ripper GC” [laughs]?Cam’s been great throughout this whole process. He’s expressed how much he wants me on the team and how beneficial it would be. But at the end of the day, he’s always wanted what’s best for me. From an advice point of view, I think I’m going to learn so much more off him, but I couldn’t pinpoint one exact thing that he’s told me so far. As the year goes on, I’m sure there’ll be some words of wisdom, for sure.

How important are the majors for you moving forward? Are winning those still at the top of the tree, in terms of career goals?
Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, the majors attract the best fields in the world of golf, and that’s still very much a goal that I want to achieve – I want to play in as many majors as I can and I want to compete in them. Ultimately – I want to win a major championship one day. But LIV has so many major champions on its roster where I feel like, if I can hang around guys like Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, that’s pretty exciting. I’m the third left-handed golfer to be added to the LIV roster, which will be cool, picking the brains of Phil and Bubba. The great thing with LIV is there are pathways to play in the majors. Having already qualified for The Open at Birkdale this year, that’s really nice to have up the sleeve, but I’m very close to being inside that top 100 to get into the PGA at Aronimink. If I can perform well throughout the year on the individual standings on LIV, I can get into the US Open as well. I’m also very confident that the way I’m capable of playing on the DP World Tour, that will help me get into the Masters. So, I’m not too concerned with that stuff. At the end of the day, good golf always takes care of itself – I’m a big believer in that.

LIV Golf obviously has its detractors, particularly in America where the PGA Tour rules roost. Some of the comments, particularly on social media, can be really vile. Are you fully prepared for some of the potential backlash coming your way?
Yeah, I’ve got good people being able to guide me in the right direction on the best way to handle all that stuff. But I think it’s also important to not get too carried away with listening to the voices that actually don’t know the vision that LIV has, especially if they’ve never even been to an event. Fortunately, I’ve been to the event in Adelaide and I know how much of a success that was, not just from an Australian point of view, but from a global point of view. More than 100,000 people attended that week, and I believe it’s growing the game of golf. It’s really attracting a younger audience to the sport. The people that have a negative thing to say about it, they don’t know what LIV’s trying to do and the opportunity that it provides for its players. To me, it’s all noise, really.

You said you’ve seen it as a spectator – how much are you looking forward to experiencing LIV Golf Adelaide as a player for Ripper GC?
Like you said, witnessing it from a spectator’s point of view is one thing, but then being inside the ropes and really embracing all the nerves and the excitement and the adrenaline that you simply can’t practice for when you’re training – you can only embrace it when you’re in tournament mode – that’s something that’s going to be really special to feel. I’m not really trying to replicate it from another event. I think I’ve just got to try to take the feelings as they come and embrace it as much as I can. I feel like I can thrive in environments like that.

You’re so used to trying to perform just for yourself on the leaderboard. How big of an adjustment is it for you to understand, right, I can’t let these other three guys down now?
I think the team component to LIV Golf will help me work that little bit harder. It’ll make me motivated to make sure that I’m playing my part and I’m doing everything I can on a day-to-day basis to ensure I’m as well-prepared as I can be by the time we all tee it up on Thursdays. So, I think it comes down to preparation and feeling comfortable, knowing that I’ve done all the work I need to by the time each tournament’s arrived, and I’m ready to fire and show everyone what I’m capable of doing.

How’s your old mate, mentor and part-time caddie Mike Clayton taken the news?
Fortunately, I’ve got a good relationship with ‘Clayts’. I’ve known him since I was a little kid and he understands exactly the position that I’m in because he was a professional golfer himself and he knows what it’s like travelling around the world and competing, and also that isolating feel you get when you’re by yourself and don’t have many people around. I think he was quite supportive in my decision to come over to LIV, which was nice because I obviously value and trust Clayts’ opinion and advice. So, to be able to have his… I guess you’d call it ‘approval’ [laughs] – maybe ‘support’ is the better word – was nice but, yeah, I think Clayts and I are going to continue to have a great relationship moving forward.

Has he sent his application in to be your full-time caddie yet? I hear loopers are very well looked after on LIV?
[Laughs] I flicked him as soon as he started losing my putter cover – I think he lost it, like, four times in one tournament. He said to me straight after, “How many majors did Jack Nicklaus win with a putter cover?” I said zero, and he’s like, “Correct. You don’t need a putter cover.”

That sounds like Clayts to a tee… [Laughs]
I mean, you get quirky things like that from Clayts all the time.

Any big decision – in sport, business or life – comes with a moment of quiet reflection afterwards, when instinct takes over and you simply know whether you’ve made the right call. Is Elvis Smylie joining LIV Golf the right move?
I truly believe so. I mean, I think you rely on your gut instincts quite a lot in situations like this because when you’ve got two options and, as I call it, two doors to walk through, you can only go through one of them and you’ve got to back yourself. And I believe that this door (LIV Golf) is the right one to walk through.

Did all the noise around Brooks Koepka quitting LIV Golf and the PGA Tour opening the door for your captain Cam Smith to join him back on its tour leave you second guessing your decision at any point?
I think it was all background noise. Nobody knows what’s truly going on inside Brooks’ head unless you’re Brooks. You don’t worry about things like that. I mean, I’m sure he has his reasons on why he wanted to return to the PGA Tour, but that’s got nothing to do with me and I’m very happy with my decision. None of that speculation had any repercussion on why I wanted to join. I’ve got goals and ambitions of wanting to do a lot of great things here, not just individually but as a team with the Ripper guys.

Excluding your Ripper teammates, who’s the first player you’re going up to on the range for advice?
Oh, good question. Probably Phil Mickelson. Yeah, I like Phil.

Having the greatest left-hander of all time beating balls next to you on the range can’t be the worst thing in the world, right?
Exactly – 100 percent. You can get the best of all worlds over here at LIV. You can improve every part of your game because there’s so many quality guys out here.

[IMAGES: Ripper GC/LIV Golf]

Elvis Smylie’s first sit-down interview as a Ripper GC player – Australian Golf Digest

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