How debut LIV Golf win in Riyadh made Elvis Smylie’s bank balance soar and his ranking plummet and made him reset his goals for 2026
Emerging Australian golfer Elvis Smylie has set his sights on entering the world’s top 50 by the end of March to earn entry into this year’s US Masters after victory in his first LIV Tournament in Riyadh.
The stunning LIV Golf debut at the weekend elevated Smylie from 133rd to 77th in the world, and was good timing for the 23-year-old, coming in the same week Official World Golf Rankings decided to recognise the rebel tour’s tournaments for the first time.
Elvis Smylie back in his home country for LIV Adelaide after making a stunning debut on the tour.Credit: Getty Images
“The Masters is something that’s on my mind now. That’s a conversation that I can start to have, and that is fuel to the fire for me,” Smylie said on Tuesday.
Not only did his ranking skyrocket, but Smylie’s four rounds in Riyadh earned him more than twice as much money as he earned playing golf throughout 2025.
He claimed the $US4 million winner’s cheque plus a percentage of the $US3 million prizemoney Ripper GC earned for winning the team’s event by dropping a three-foot putt to hold off the fast-finishing Jon Rahm.
The cash he pocketed in Riyadh put the $1.75 million he earned playing 25 tournaments in Europe and the US PGA last year in the shade, and was a huge boost on the $340,000 he earned for winning the 2024 Australian PGA.
The estimated $5 million purse is serious money for a 23-year-old, particularly when you consider former Australian golfer Greg Norman’s career earnings were $14,484,458. Current Australian golfer Min Woo Lee earned $1.71 million in prizemoney when he scored his first PGA Tour win in Texas last season.
Lee’s career earnings are $9,185,496, having won his PGA Tour card in 2024 via the DP World Tour.
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