Victor Perez and Joel Girrbach are one shot off local favourite Elvis Smylie’s lead after round one of the BMW Australian PGA Championship, the opening event of the 2025 Race to Dubai.
Frenchman Perez and Girrbach of Switzerland sit alongside another Australian in Matias Sanchez and Cristobal Del Solar of Chile at five under par after Gold Coast-native Smylie produced a brilliant round of 65 to top the leaderboard at a rain-soaked Royal Queensland Golf Club.
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The 22-year-old, who won his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title in October, carded eight birdies and two bogies to set the daunting clubhouse target at six under par, wrapping up with a hole out from the bunker at the ninth – his last.
Rolex Series winner Perez had matched his total through 13 holes as the downpours intensified in the afternoon, but a bogey at the 15th saw the Frenchman slip back to finish alongside Girrbach, Sanchez and Del Solar in Brisbane.
Smylie has sporting genes through his parents Liz and Peter – former professional tennis players who were mixed doubles partners at the 1983 French Open – and he outshone a plethora of Australian stars in the event co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
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Jason Day is amongst a group of five Australians at four under, including fellow Major winner Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Ben Eccles and David Micheluzzi, who had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the campaign after earning his DP World Tour card through the 2022/23 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and going on to enjoy an impressive rookie season in 2024.
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Two-time DP World Tour winner Jordan Smith, Ivan Cantero of Spain and South African Aldrich Potgieter also joined the group at four under, with defending champion Min Woo Lee and European Challenge Tour Number One Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen among a group of 18 players at three under.
Player Quotes
Elvis Smylie: It’s a home game for me this week. I’m from the Gold Coast, it’s only an hour’s drive. I’ve played a lot of golf here. I’m quite familiar with the course and every part of my game’s really good at the moment. I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing. The greens are amazing considering after all the rain, so kudos to the greenkeepers. And Duane, my caddie, we’re working really well together and really excited for the next few days.
I think you try to just keep the levels the same compared to what every other tournament is, but it’s a little bit tricky when you know that it’s a bigger tournament.
It’s great having all the Aussies back home and supporting the Australian tournaments. And it’s great to compete against them because ultimately I want to be in their shoes and do what they’re doing in their career. It’s great for me to be able to compare my game against theirs and see what areas I need to improve on.
Victor Perez: We got most of the good weather, it was a bit rainy at the end, which didn’t help. The back nine plays more difficult so the last few were definitely tricky, but overall very happy with my first day.
Getting off to a good start in a tournament is always key to feel like you have a bit if leeway and momentum leading through Friday and then the weekend.
There is a lot of strategy that is important on this course. We’ve been fortunate with the rain it has made the greens probably as soft as they have ever been on this track, so I am expecting them to firm up if the weather allows, which I think is what everyone wants. A bit of strategy and holing a few putts goes a long way.
Joel Girrbach: Very happy with the start of the season. It was an early morning but a good start and very pleased with the first round. The eagle-birdie (on 15 and 16) definitely helped. Hit two good shots on the par 5 and chipped in from 50 metres, that’s always a little bonus. 16 was just a good drive, really good wedge and left three or four feet for birdie.
Conditions are surprisingly good. Yesterday I played the pro-am and it rained all day. Today it played really good actually, the greens are quite firm, I think the guys did a great job (preparing the course).
Very good to start the season in Australia. What do you want to do in Europe right now in winter? I was hoping for a bit better weather here but we’ll take it. The people are lovely, the place is nice, really enjoyable week.
