Ultimately, it took Elvis Smylie three years to become an overnight sensation but the manner of his BMW Australian PGA Championship win at Royal Queensland was proof enough that this is no flash in the pan.

Paired with three-time champion Cameron Smith – whose scholarship he won just five years earlier – Smylie played like a seasoned campaigner and not the 22-year-old who has already seen the struggle that professional golf can be.

Having burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old who very nearly won in his first professional start in Sydney, Smylie saw the golf world open up to the promise of his potential.

Sponsor invites to play a dozen DP World Tour events didn’t yield a single dollar won, quests at Qualifying School also coming up agonisingly short.

But when he turned up to play the WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie in October, there was a confident air about Smylie.

Almost 12 months into working with WA-based coach Ritchie Smith, strength and conditioning coach Luke Mackey, physiotherapist Martin McInnes and mental coach Michael Lloyd, the Smylie puzzle suddenly looked completely assembled,

If not for a wayward tee shot on 18 he’d have had the outright lead through 54 holes at the WA PGA; a week later he tamed cyclonic winds at Mandurah Country Club to edge Jak Carter in a playoff to win the WA Open.

It was tangible proof to everyone – including himself – that he has what it takes to win, his composure under immense pressure at RQ a month later an exclamation point that has propelled him instantly onto the DP World Tour with what is effectively a two-year exemption.