Elvis Smylie

Left-hander whose 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. Her son, named after the singer, earned his first start in a major by sharing second place in the 36-hole Final Qualifying event at Royal Cinque Ports on July 2 as his mum was commentating at Wimbledon.

Four Royal Troon spots were up for grabs and among those to miss out – after a play-off – was Branden Grace, the only player to have had a round of 62 in The Open.

Smylie, who went into the day 934th on the world rankings, has had three runner-up finishes on the Australasian Tour, two in 2021 and then at last year’s TPS Victoria, where closing rounds of 64 and 63 were still not low enough to catch James Marchesani. He made his debut on the DP World Tour three years ago, with a best finish of joint 12th in the Australian PGA Championship in 2022.

“Just saying that I’ve qualified for The Open gives me goosebumps,” he said. “The last time I went to it was at Royal Troon in 2016 when I was 14.