Elvis Smylie

Left-hander Elvis Smylie topped the Australasian Tour Order of Merit last season.

He comes from a sporting family - his mother Liz won the Wimbledon women’s doubles title with Kathy Jordan in 1985 and the mixed doubles there with John Fitzgerald six years later. She was also a singles quarter-finalist at her home Australian Open in between.

Smylie earned his first start in a major at The 152nd Open by sharing the second of four available places in the 36-hole Final Qualifying event at Royal Cinque Ports on July 2 while his mum was commentating at Wimbledon.

He went into the day 934th on the world rankings, but having since broken into the top 200 is back for a second go thanks to the International Federation ranking list which offers five spots based on results on the Australasia, Japan, Asia and Sunshine tours.

Late last year he grabbed his first two victories at home, first in the West Australia Open after a play-off with Jak Carter, and then the BMW Australian PGA Championship – co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour – by two from 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, a player who has mentored him since launching a scholarship scheme which every year sees two Australian juniors spend time with him in America.