Elvis Smylie collected his first DP World Tour title, and left his own golfing idol Cameron Smith in second place, as he won the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

Australia’s Smylie was one of two players to receive the Cameron Smith Scholarship in 2019 and the pair shared the second-round lead at the 54-hole tournament heading into Sunday.

The world No 736, the son of former four-time grand slam tennis doubles champion Liz Smylie, only secured his first professional win on the PGA Tour of Australasia last month, but he showed nerves of steel to overcome a tricky back nine at Royal Queensland.

Smylie carded four birdies to reach the turn with a three-shot lead, but needed several par saves to keep his nose ahead before Smith mounted late pressure.

The 150th Open champion birdied the 15th and holed out for another at the 17th to trim the lead to two, but Smylie salvaged another par at the last to seal a two-shot triumph at 14 under.

“It’s a dream come true,” Smylie said. “I just said to Matt [Clayton, his caddie] that I won’t forget this day, you know, playing with Cam and Leish [Marc Leishman] there.

“I looked up to these guys since I was a kid and just being in their presence and to compete against them for the title, I’ve learnt so much and just so grateful and so honoured right now.

“My short game was great, I definitely saved myself in that department. I was pretty average off the tee, but golf is a game of imperfection and today that was a sign of that.

“I just told myself to find a way of getting it around and doing my best, executing every shot as well as I can and my short game was great, so I gave that the full credit that it deserves.

“My mum and dad have been with me every step of the way. I saw my mum in the corner there, tearing up before I holed that last putt so everyone who has been on this journey with me, they know how hard I’ve worked to be here and hopefully this is just the start of good things to come.”

Leishman completed an all-Australian final group, but his challenge never materialised as his playing partners opened with a birdie.

The 22-year-old rolled in another at second to take the initiative as Smith carded a colourful front nine of three gains and four bogeys.

Smith, a three-time winner of this event, carded his second bogey at the sixth, the same hole Smylie birdied to stretch his advantage to two.

The pair birdied the seventh as Smylie climbed to 14 under – a score he would remain on for the rest of the tournament – before Smith bogeyed the ninth to sit three behind the leader.

Smith’s late charge cut the deficit to two and Smylie then found trouble off the tee at the last.

He hooked his second shot around a tree and into the greenside bunker, but he scooped out to three feet and tapped in for par to complete a flawless final round of 67 and lift the first DP World Tour title of the 2025 season.

Leishman was in a tie for third at 11 under with Anthony Quayle, who rolled in a 110-foot birdie putt at the last to sign for a blemish-free 63.

Former world No 1 Jason Day was among seven players to finish in a share of eighth at eight under.

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Australia

104.


India


are batting,

150
& 275 for 1, from 84 overs.

Lunch

Lunch is being taken.

India lead Australia by 321 runs with 9 wickets remaining.

Luke Humphries and Luke Littler remain on a collision course at the Players Championship Finals after progressing to the quarter-finals on Saturday.

The second and third rounds took place on a bumper second day in Minehead as reigning champion Humphries continued his defence of the title.

The world number one overcame Raymond van Barneveld and Damon Heta to maintain his bid for back-to-back Players Championship Finals titles, having swept aside Gabriel Clemens on a dramatic opening night.

“I felt like I had so much more to give there,” said Humphries, who is relishing the prospect of a showdown with Littler if both players progress to Sunday’s final.

“Luke is playing some absolutely phenomenal darts right now. He’s probably the best player in the world at the moment, but I know I’ve got a level to match that.

“Hopefully I can get to the final and give the fans what they want, but I’ve still got a couple of games to win before we can think about that. You cannot look too far ahead.”

Fresh from averaging 112.73 against Rob Cross on Friday evening, Littler maintained his breathtaking form with dominant wins over Ritchie Edhouse and Danny Noppert.

The newly-crowned Grand Slam champion won a superb tie against Edhouse, missing double 12 for a nine-darter in a contest which saw both players average 105.

Littler then backed this up with a 10-3 thrashing of former UK Open champion Noppert, averaging 104 and crashing in seven 180s to extend his winning run to 10 matches.

“When I go on these little bursts, I feel like nobody can touch me in between,” claimed Littler, who has now climbed to a career-high of world number four.

“I’m just very happy to win. I played really well against Ritchie this afternoon, and I felt comfortable tonight.”

The 17-year-old will now renew his rivalry with World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker in the last eight, after the Belgian conceded just four legs throughout Saturday’s double-header against Ian White and Niels Zonneveld.

Ross Smith also eased through to Finals Day, following up a brace of 6-1 wins over Dimitri Van den Bergh and Wesley Plaisier with a 10-1 thumping of 2023 UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.

Smith will now face Scott Williams, who moved through to his second televised ranking quarter-final with comeback victories over 2012 runner-up Kim Huybrechts and Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf.

Elsewhere, 2023 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce survived four match darts against Cameron Menzies before seeing off Martin Schindler 10-6 to maintain his impressive Minehead record to set up a quarter-final clash against Humphries.

Joyce survived four match darts to win through a dramatic second-round tie against Cameron Menzies, before seeing off German number one Martin Schindler 10-6 in the last 16.

Dirk van Duijvenbode continued his revival with resounding wins over Florian Hempel and Jermaine Wattimena to set up a last-eight clash against Connor Scutt, who eased past Mario Vandenbogaerde and 2018 champion Daryl Gurney to progress.

Earlier in the day, world number three Michael Smith suffered a second-round exit against Gurney, with Dave Chisnall and Nathan Aspinall also crashing out at the same stage.

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Celtic moved three points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a high-powered second-half display earned Brendan Rodgers’ side a 4-1 win at Hearts.

The Hoops have been tracked by the Dons all season but the Pittodrie side’s first league defeat of the campaign away to St Mirren earlier in the day paved the way for Rodgers’ men to assert their authority at the summit.

The Hoops were off the pace in the first half and looked at risk of a first domestic defeat since they lost on their last visit to Tynecastle almost nine months ago.

But the champions managed to subdue Hearts in the second half and their class shone through as they pulled away through goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and substitute Adam Idah, who hit a double either side of a consolation strike from home substitute Musa Drammeh.

The Parkhead side have now won six matches in a row in all competitions ahead of their Champions League showdown at home to Club Brugge on Wednesday.

Hearts, who travel to Belgium to face Cercle Brugge in the Conference League the following evening, remain 11th in the table, only one point from the bottom.

Hoops second-half class asserts title-race authority

Celtic saw more of the ball in a goalless first half, but it was Hearts who enjoyed a flurry of chances thanks to cutting counter-attacking play.

Blair Spittal and James Penrice were among those to be denied by Kasper Schmeichel, while Alan Forrest saw his strike blocked by Cameron Carter-Vickers at the end of a sweeping move ignited by the outstanding Penrice.

But having struggled to trouble Craig Gordon in the first half, Celtic forced the Hearts goalkeeper into a superb save early in the second, Kyogo Furuhashi seeing his close-range effort denied after pivoting in the box.

The Celtic forward breached Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute, though, finishing at the second time of asking after Daniel Oyegoke had ceded possession in a dangerous area. Spurred on, the visitors then extended their lead through Scottish Premiership top scorer Nicolas Kuhn, who drove into the left-hand-side of the Hearts box and powered his finish into the near top corner.

Though Hearts responded well, coming closest when Anthony Ralston diverted a curling cross onto his own crossbar, Celtic showed their ruthless edge in the closing stages, substitute Adam Idah scoring with just his third touch.

Musa Drammeh, on from the Hearts bench, reduced the deficit to two with a superb strike from outside the box, but Celtic remained on top and Idah converted a stoppage-time penalty to seal an important win.

Rodgers hails ‘incredible’ Kuhn

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers speaking to Sky Sports:

“It’s a very, very good win when you come here to Tynecastle and can win 4-1. Excellent performance, especially the second half.

“When we went through at half-time they adjusted really, really well and we could then play through in better numbers and then eliminate that press much better.

“We scored very good goals and kept going right to the very end which is the mark of a good team.

“It’s a huge credit to our players, they’ve made long, long journeys and they’re coming out of different time zones.

“Our Japanese players, Ali Johnston, Alex [Valle], Auston Trusty.

“They’re giving so much to the team and effort and commitment, so just managing their minutes.

“Nicolas Kuhn’s numbers are absolutely incredible, but he’s working very, very hard and I thought his finish was absolutely superb. He’s shown that he can make strikes, he can bend it in and score a back post. It was really pleasing.”

‘A lot of positives’ for Critchley

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley on Sky Sports:

“I don’t think 4-1 is a reflection of the game. I thought that was really harsh. I thought we were excellent in the first half.

“When you’re on top, you need to take your chances, and we didn’t do that. The first goal is pivotal. You need an element of luck, and they get luck for their first goal.

“We maybe showed a little bit of naivety right near the end of the game.

“Sometimes you have to take your medicine. We opened up the pitch for them, and they punished us but there was a lot of positives to take.

“I saw a real good structure and organisation, I saw a team on the front foot, we created some good opportunities and we gave a good team a real test, I felt.”

What’s coming up in the Scottish Premiership?