{"id":410673,"date":"2026-01-16T10:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/410673\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:20:18","slug":"elvis-smylies-first-sit-down-interview-as-a-ripper-gc-player-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/410673\/","title":{"rendered":"Elvis Smylie’s first sit-down interview as a Ripper GC player \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was news that left many in Australian golf a little stunned:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elvis Smylie is going to sign with LIV Golf and become Ripper GC\u2019s newest member. <\/p>\n

RELATED: Elvis Smylie: A little more conversation<\/a><\/p>\n

What? No megabucks-deal to land Min Woo Lee and those crisp-white chef hats? <\/p>\n

Not a nice, little nest egg for our aging \u2013\u00a0very gracefully, mind you \u2013 Masters champion Adam Scott before he hits the big 5-Oh? <\/p>\n

And no tempting Jason Day and his very, ahem, loud Malbon ensembles to Adelaide\u2019s Watering Hole? <\/p>\n

Nope. <\/p>\n

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 (\u201cWise men say\u00a0only fools rush in,\u201d hey, Elvis?), Ripper GC got their man.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they paid him a lot of money,\u201d said one highly respected voice in Australian golf. Don\u2019t worry, Smylie\u2019s not going without dinner anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s rolling roadshow to match.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013\u00a0when LIV contract negotiations started, whether Brooks Koepka\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is Elvis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Australian Golf Digest: Elvis has entered the building\u2026
Elvis Smylie: [Laughs]\u00a0Yeah, I\u2019m stoked. It\u2019s nice to have it all signed, sealed and delivered.<\/p>\n

It feels like golf\u2019s worst-kept secret is finally out. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s been an exciting process but also a difficult one, dealing with all the innuendo from family, friends and media?
I think it\u2019s been difficult yet exciting at the same time because I\u2019ve 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\u2019re fully supportive and I\u2019m 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\u2019m excited to be on the Ripper GC team with Cam (Smith), \u2018Leish\u2019 (Marc Leishman) and \u2018Herbie\u2019 (Lucas Herbert).<\/p>\n

Correct me if I\u2019m 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\u2019s really getting younger people into the game of golf\u2026 I truly do believe that it\u2019s growing the game in a healthy way. And, so, conversations did start roughly about 11 months ago.\u00a0But I think as each month has passed, I\u2019ve understood more and more what LIV\u2019s 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\u2019m 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\u2019ve got Jon Rahm, you\u2019ve got Tyrrell Hatton, you\u2019ve got Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau \u2013 all these world-class athletes that I can rely on for advice. You don\u2019t get that opportunity very often, so, I think joining LIV is a really good decision on my behalf and I\u2019m excited for it.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve 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\u2019ve 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\u2019s required from a work ethic point of view, surrounding yourself with good people, making good decisions and all that. I feel like they\u2019ve been great at being able to help me make my own decisions rather than pushing me down a certain path. They\u2019ve been very open to helping me, as I call it, see both sides of the coin, and I feel like I\u2019ve done a good job with that. My parents have been a huge part of that.<\/p>\n

I guess you\u2019ve had to learn to \u2018wheel and deal\u2019 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\u2019re away from home and when you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Ripper GC confirms the addition of Elvis Smylie to the all-Aussie LIV Golf team<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s really important for me in my career is being able to play on a global scale.\u00a0I think the great thing with LIV Golf and the DP World Tour is they\u2019re both world tours, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019m 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\u2019m as sharp as I can be by the time the LIV events roll around.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Fortunately I\u2019ve also got a good relationship with Adam, and even though it is a different path to what he\u2019s gone down, I think he will have my best interests. I respect a lot of what \u2018Scotty\u2019 has done for the game of golf and what he\u2019s achieved and how much of a positive impact he\u2019s had in growing the game in Australia. So, even though it\u2019s a different path that he\u2019s on, I still believe that him and I can keep a great relationship moving forward.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve 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?\u00a0
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\u2019ve obviously just kept in touch and I\u2019ve 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\u2019s obviously world-class at what he does so it\u2019s going to be fun learning off him and trying to get better each day.<\/p>\n

Any particular pearls of wisdom that he\u2019s passed on, besides \u201csign for Ripper GC\u201d [laughs]?Cam\u2019s been great throughout this whole process. He\u2019s expressed how much he wants me on the team and how beneficial it would be. But at the end of the day, he\u2019s always wanted what\u2019s best for me. From an advice point of view, I think I\u2019m going to learn so much more off him, but I couldn\u2019t pinpoint one exact thing that he\u2019s told me so far. As the year goes on, I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be some words of wisdom, for sure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\u2019s still very much a goal that I want to achieve \u2013 I want to play in as many majors as I can and I want to compete in them. Ultimately \u2013\u00a0I 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\u2019s pretty exciting. I\u2019m the third left-handed golfer to be added to the LIV roster, which will be cool, picking the brains of Phil and Bubba.\u00a0The great thing with LIV is there are pathways to play in the majors. Having already qualified for The Open at Birkdale this year, that\u2019s really nice to have up the sleeve, but I\u2019m 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\u2019m also very confident that the way I\u2019m capable of playing on the DP World Tour, that will help me get into the Masters. So, I\u2019m not too concerned with that stuff. At the end of the day, good golf always takes care of itself \u2013\u00a0I\u2019m a big believer in that.<\/p>\n

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\u2019ve 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\u2019s also important to not get too carried away with listening to the voices that actually don\u2019t know the vision that LIV has, especially if they\u2019ve never even been to an event.\u00a0Fortunately, I\u2019ve 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\u2019s growing the game of golf. It\u2019s really attracting a younger audience to the sport. The people that have a negative thing to say about it, they don\u2019t know what LIV\u2019s trying to do and the opportunity that it provides for its players. To me, it\u2019s all noise, really.<\/p>\n

You said you\u2019ve seen it as a spectator \u2013 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\u2019s 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\u2019t practice for when you\u2019re training \u2013 you can only embrace it when you\u2019re in tournament mode \u2013 that\u2019s something that\u2019s going to be really special to feel. I\u2019m not really trying to replicate it from another event. I think I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re so used to trying to perform just for yourself on the leaderboard. How big of an adjustment is it for you to understand,\u00a0right, I can\u2019t let these other three guys down\u00a0now?
I think the team component to LIV Golf will help me work that little bit harder. It\u2019ll make me motivated to make sure that I\u2019m playing my part and I\u2019m doing everything I can on a day-to-day basis to ensure I\u2019m 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\u2019ve done all the work I need to by the time each tournament\u2019s arrived, and I\u2019m ready to fire and show everyone what I\u2019m capable of doing.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s your old mate, mentor and part-time caddie Mike Clayton taken the news?
Fortunately, I\u2019ve got a good relationship with \u2018Clayts\u2019. I\u2019ve known him since I was a little kid and he understands exactly the position that I\u2019m in because he was a professional golfer himself and he knows what it\u2019s like travelling around the world and competing, and also that isolating feel you get when you\u2019re by yourself and don\u2019t 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\u2019 opinion and advice. So, to be able to have his\u2026 I guess you\u2019d call it \u2018approval\u2019 [laughs] \u2013 maybe \u2018support\u2019 is the better word \u2013 was nice but, yeah, I think Clayts and I are going to continue to have a great relationship moving forward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 I think he lost it, like, four times in one tournament. He said to me straight after, \u201cHow many majors did Jack Nicklaus win with a putter cover?\u201d I said zero, and he\u2019s like, \u201cCorrect. You don\u2019t need a putter cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounds like Clayts to a tee\u2026\u00a0[Laughs]
I mean, you get quirky things like that from Clayts all the time.<\/p>\n

Any big decision \u2013 in sport, business or life \u2013 comes with a moment of quiet reflection afterwards, when instinct takes over and you simply know whether you\u2019ve made the right call.\u00a0Is 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\u2019ve got two options and, as I call it, two doors to walk through, you can only go through one of them and you\u2019ve got to back yourself. And I believe that this door (LIV Golf) is the right one to walk through.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s truly going on inside Brooks\u2019 head unless you\u2019re Brooks. You don\u2019t worry about things like that. I mean, I\u2019m sure he has his reasons on why he wanted to return to the PGA Tour, but that\u2019s got nothing to do with me and I\u2019m very happy with my decision. None of that speculation\u00a0had any repercussion on why I wanted to join. I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

Excluding your Ripper teammates, who\u2019s the first player you\u2019re going up to on the range for advice?
Oh, good question. Probably Phil Mickelson. Yeah, I like Phil.<\/p>\n

Having the greatest left-hander of all time beating balls next to you on the range can\u2019t be the worst thing in the world, right?
Exactly \u2013 100 percent. You can get the best of all worlds over here at LIV. You can improve every part of your game because there\u2019s so many quality guys out here.<\/p>\n

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