Matt Cooper's Open Championship diary: Tuesday's notes from Portrush

Matt Cooper has spoken to two young players who 'wouldn't have it any other way' as they prepare to embrace whatever Portrush has in store.

Smylie face At last year’s Open the young Aussie Elvis Smylie became the focus of a nice little side-story off the back of his tennis star mother, Liz, and the fact that Troon (or Prestwick airport at the end of the course) is where Elvis briefly set foot on British soil. Elvis (Smylie) is back this year and now a DP World Tour winner after triumph in last November’s Australian PGA Championship. “Very, very exciting to be back at the Open,” he told me. “Portrush is such a special place, a lot of history, Rory is a hometown hero – it’s just really cool.” Last year was not his first trip to Royal Troon – he’d been there as a fan in 2016. “I still remember watching the Stenson and Mickelson showdown coming down the stretch on Sunday. It was very cool – a genuine pinch-me moment. That younger version of Elvis would have been very proud of what happened last year!”

Day one of the Open diary. Fond and funny memories of 2019, OB trouble off the first, Richard Teder's ferry past, and Daniel Brown's memories of Portrush.

https://t.co/oKJJN91Q1G — Matt Cooper (@MattCooperGolf) July 14, 2025

His biggest learning curve last year was discovering just how capricious an Open venue can be. “It can just throw every kind of weather condition at you and then it can change just like that. The wind was prevailing off the right for the first few holes in practice. Then, as soon as you get into the tournament days, it completely switches. Any thought of hitting the same clubs went completely out the window. So you need to be ready to adapt. That’s what I’ve learned.” He has a new bagman, Brad Beecher, this year – one of Australia’s most respected caddies. In fact, he’s a seven-time major winner on the LPGA who has worked with Minjee Lee and Inbee Park. “We’ve been together for seven months and I really like how we’re working together,” Smylie said. “He’s got so much experience.” As an Australian 23-year-old you’d half expect him to be bumming round the world at the moment with a backpack. Instead he’s got his golf bag but there’s a similar vibe going on. “I’m still getting used to all these new countries, and courses, and just everything’s getting thrown at me at once,” he said with a smile. “The amount of travel stories I have this year from lost bags to having to take a 12 hour train because I had a burst eardrum and not being able to fly – the list goes on. But I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, it’s character building.” Hat-trick man Matthew Jordan Two years ago Matthew Jordan had the wonderful experience of playing an Open on his home course, Royal Liverpool in Hoylake. It was astonishing to watch him walk around the property, politely nodding and smiling to every bit of encouragement he was offered. He finished tenth to land a return last year and he relished that too, even repeating the result. So he’s back again and he can’t wait. Typical of, Jordan, however, his words are just very lovely and very polite. “The infrastructure, the people, and certainly the fans – how good they are and everything like that – it just makes you feel very special as a golfer,” he said. “It almost makes you feel famous.

“Hoylake was immense and it was also the most pressure I’ve felt, but you wouldn't want it any other way. I really wanted to do it again so I got lucky and now I get to do it for a third time.” The fact he acknowledged so many RLGC members and friends that week two years ago remains amazing. “Oh, I’ll always say hello and thank you,” he said. “It wouldn’t be very nice to blank them. I don’t think the support would last very long if I did!” If you had a daughter, you’d probably want her to meet Matthew, but what about Portrush this week? “We came over a couple of weeks back to play it. It was the first time I’d seen it and it’s just another really good, strong links course and it helped me know what sort of shots to have in mind for the last two weeks to be ready for this week.” Top amateur It has become tradition for the diary to take a close look at the top amateur market for the simple reason that I get to see a far bit of amateur action every spring and summer. I’ve discounted four of them: Justin Hastings from the Cayman Islands did make the cut at the US Open which has to be respected but he has little links experience; Filip Jakubcik was the first Czech winner of the European Amateur Championship but is also raw by the seaside; 19-year-old Englishman Frazer Jones got through Final Qualifying but it was his first decent effort on the links this summer; and Bryan Newman is a 17-year-old winner of the Africa Amateur Championship who has struggled in amateur links events this summer. That leaves five and yesterday I wrote about the intriguing back story of Richard Teder. The Estonian was quite down on his ability to play fast-running heathland golf at Hankley Common during the Brabazon Trophy, but bounced back to perform well at Royal St George’s in the Amateur Championship as well as when landing a spot at Final Qualifying. I’d love to see him do well but this is more likely to be a learning experience.

Making his mark. Amateur Filip Jakubcik made a hole-in-one on the 6th earlier today.

Follow the Live Blog here https://t.co/xYY44zAFs3 pic.twitter.com/efkkgTk3hs — The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2025

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