Shooting golf star Elvis Smylie will get to test himself against Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the like after being granted a special exemption into next week's US PGA Championship in North Carolina.
Smylie had already earned a ticket back to this year's British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland after winning the 2024/25 Australasian Order of Merit.
Now his US major championship debut is the latest perk for the 23-year-old's summer of excellence in Australia and New Zealand.
Smylie follows on from the previous two Order of Merit winners David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori, who were also granted late exemptions to play the season's second major. While the US PGA marked major championship debuts for Micheluzzi and Kobori in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Smylie enters having played The Open Championship at Royal Troon last year. He earned that spot through final qualifying and, although he narrowly missed the cut, has shown since he is not overawed by the game's biggest tournaments.
Victory in the third event of the season, the WA Open, was a precursor to Smylie's stirring victory at the Australian PGA Championship, where he went toe-to-toe with Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman in the final group at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
That win secured immediate status on the DP World Tour, where the Golf Australia Rookie Squad member has since accrued three top-16 finishes, including in back-to-back events in his two most recent starts in China. "I'm really excited for this opportunity," Smylie said in a post to Instagram. "Thank you to the PGA of America for the invite and to Chairman, Ian Baker-Finch, and his team at the PGA of Australia for all the help with this process. "I can't wait and I'll see you all at Quail Hollow." Smylie's inclusion bolsters the Australian challenge at the PGA Championship to seven, joining 2015 winner Jason Day, fellow former world No.1 Adam Scott, Smith, Cam Davis and 2025 PGA Tour winners Min Woo Lee and Karl Vilips.
