Wet and wild conditions wreaks havoc as Elvis Smylie secures first tour win at WA Open
Queensland young gun Elvis Smylie secured his first tour win as a professional in a tense final day at the WA Open despite horrible conditions threatening to stop play all throughout the day.
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Queensland young gun Elvis Smylie secured his first tour win as a professional at the WA Open at Mandurah, emerging triumphant after a truly bizarre final round in pouring rain and heavy winds that produced enormous puddles on the greens.
Smylie, 22, won a tense final round battle as the final group including Jak Carter and Curtis Luck played consistent golf in the horrendous conditions to claim his first Challenger Tour of Australasia victory.
Smylie (69) and Carter (70) finished the day tied for the lead at 19-under-par, with the son of tennis great Liz Smylie holding his nerve best with his stunning approach shot landing just a few feet from the pin while Carter ended up in the bunker during the playoff hole.
Smylie roared “Yeeeesss” when his birdie putt fell into the cup, pure elation after he finished third last week at the WA PGA Championship having led at the halfway point and into the final round.
“It means absolutely everything to me,” Smylie said.
“It is honestly a dream come true. I honestly forgot what it’s like to feel this.”
It was a hard fought win for Smylie who not only conquered the enormous mental battle for securing his first win as a tour professional, but emerged victorious in some of the worst golf playing conditions imagineable.
Course officials were forced to constantly squeegee the greens as huge pools of water formed in and around the hole.
At one point a commentator exclaimed: “He’s on the front of the green with a couple of dams in between.”
It got to the point where Luck complained during the live broadcast on Fox Sports as players huddled under umbrellas and officials tried pushing thick water off the greens.
“We should not be playing,” he said as players waited on the 16th green for a break in the deluge.
At the time, Luck was one shot behind Smylie but when play resumed several minutes later the leader made his only bogey of the day as the pair were all tied up heading to the 17th.
In the end, Luck bogeyed the 17th and it was only a superb birdie from Carter on the 18th that forced a playoff as Luck (68) finished in third at 18-under.
Having previously adapted an aggressive approach to his play in recent weeks, Smylie showed his maturity with the way he attacked play in the tough conditions on the final play and was rewarded with a breakthrough win.
“I think you just try to compose yourself, you never know what mother nature can throw up at you,” he said.
“I knew today would be a tricky day looking at the forecast.
“Winning for the first time is something very difficult and it just makes all those early mornings and late finishes all worth it.”
‘How am I 17-under?’: Carter stuns rivals – and himself – at WA Open
Course record holder Jak Carter put himself in the box seat to win the WA Open at Mandurah Golf Club with a final hole birdie giving him a one-shot lead to take into Sunday’s final round.
The South Australian who shot a course record 62 on Thursday was not far off that same pace again on Saturday, signing off for a 65 to move to the outright lead at 18-under-par ahead of Queensland’s Elvis Smylie.
Carter and Smylie both walked onto the 18th hole tied in the lead at 17-under, after Smylie powered back into contention with two eagles in par five 13th and par four 16th.
But it was Carter who came up trumps on their final hole, sinking his birdie putt to move one stroke clear as he hunts his first Challenger Tour of Australasia victory.
He has been running hot all week with his wedge shot and knows he will need to have his radar on again on Sunday to secure his maiden tour title.
“I’m flagging the wedges real tight, which is just making the game a whole lot easier,” he said.
“I started the day at 12-under and then I looked at the leaderboard and I was like ‘how am I at 17-under?’
“It happens more often when I’m playing in the last groups.
“Whenever I am playing in these situations I’ll just completely switch off to everything, and the only thing I’m trying to focus on is just to make sure that I’m one shot better than the group.”
The shot of the day was Smylie’s stunning eagle on the par-4, holing out from just inside 100m.
“It was 98 metres, I flighted a really nice 50-degree, and I knew as soon as it came out it was going to be pretty good,” he said.
West Australian Curtis Luck will join Carter and Smylie in the final group of three on Sunday after he moved into outright third with a bogey-free 66 today to move to 15-under, one shot ahead of Zachary Maxwell who carded a 70 on Saturday to be at 14-under.
“I still don’t really know what to say about the form. I guess I’m just riding a bit of luck at the moment,” Luck said.
“My wedge play and putting’s been quite good, so if I hit a couple more fairways, keep it inside the tree line, I think we’re in a good place.”
* The final round of the WA Open will be live and exclusive on Fox Sports and Kayo.
DAY 2: STUNNING EAGLE PUTS MAXWELL IN CHARGE
Queensland’s Zachary Maxwell has put himself in a strong position to win his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title, after a stunning eagle helped him take a one-shot lead into the third round of the WA Open at Mandurah Country Club.
Maxwell shot a five-under-par round of 66 to go with his 63 on Thursday to sit atop the leaderboard at 13-under, ahead of South Australian Jak Carter at 12-under and another Queenslander Elvis Smylie a shot further back at 11-under.
Smylie made the most of the morning conditions on Friday when shot a 7-under-par 64 to be the clubhouse leader only for the round one leaders to keep up their strong form in the afternoon group.
Maxwell would’ve had a bigger lead but bogeyed the 12th and 18th holes in a round that also included a rare eagle on the par four 343m third hole.
Carter, who shot 68 on Friday, had set the standard with a course record in the opening round when he shot a 9-under-par round of 62.
“I’d say the majority of the day I was just flagging anything from inside sort of 120 metres, I was hitting those to inches,” Carter said.
“It was just a nice solid day with shorter clubs, the wedges were good today.
“The course is mint, I absolutely love it, it’s pure.”
Carter is yet to secure his first win on the tour, something he is hoping to finally achieve this weekend.
“Absolutely starving,” he said of his hunger for that first win. “Just got to keep just rocking up and yeah, who knows what’ll happen.”
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