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Extra.ie
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Ryan Peake: Meet the golfer who's gone from being a gang member to the Open Championship
After six years The Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush. It doesn't feel that long ago that Shane Lowry was crying walking down the 18th. At that time Ryan Peake was about to get his life back together again after serving five years in prison. Now the two of them will be competing at the same tournament this week. Peake didn't always live a life of crime. He was a promising young golfer after beginning lessons at 10 in the Lakelands Country Club just outside of his hometown of Perth, Australia. He embarked on a promising amateur career where he qualified for the Australian Open and tied for 10th at the PGA Tour of Australia's WA Open at just 17-years old. He also represented Australia in his youth, teaming up with long-time friend and 2022 Open winner Cameron Smith. Ryan Peake of Australia looks on during day 3 of the 2025 New Zealand Open. Pic:Two years later he turned pro but failed to win full tour membership at the PGA Tour of Australia Qualifying school. Battling through depression at the time Peake decided to step away from Golf entirely. He took up plenty of jobs to pay the bills, including working down the mines, plastering, brick laying and mixing cement. Around this time he would begin to drink heavily and gained a lot of weight, ballooning to over 135kg at one point. Ryan Peake of Australia plays a shot through the trees. Pic:It was also around this time when Peake would become part of the Rebels Motorcycle Club, a bike gang and was a full member at age 21. He would then be arrested soon after becoming a member following an incident where the gang got into a fight with a rival and left the victim with a fractured skull. Peake was sentenced to 7 years in prison for two counts of grievous bodily harm. While in prison he would lose weight and get back into golf, giving other inmates some tips. While in prison, Peake would be contacted his old coach Ritchie Smith about possibly making a return to professional golf upon release. That release came in May 2019 and soon after Peake began working as a greenkeeper at Lakelands Country Club while trying to restart his pro career. Ryan Peake of Australia walks of the green. Pic:He would turn pro again in 2022 and worked his way up to full status for the PGA Tour of Australia for the 2024/25 season before he accomplished his biggest achievement in March of this year. Peake would win his biggest tournament of his career when we shot a final round 66 to win the New Zealand Open in Queenstown. It was a remarkable week for Peake, who had trouble getting into New Zealand due to visa issues around his criminal past. Ryan Peake of Australia talks with his caddie on the first tee during a practice round. Pic:He would only land in New Zealand 36 hours before the tournament began and he would finish it with a NZ $302,000 jackpot and a spot at The Open Championship, the first time he'll play at a major. He's now ready to take part of the star-studded field. He's grouped up with all-time great Phil Mickelson and South Africa's Daniel van Tonder for the first two rounds and if he makes the cut, he'll be in for a nice pay day in the tens of thousands. Not too bad for someone who was in prison just over six years ago.
USA Today
15-07-2025
- USA Today
Meet the ex-gang member who went from prison to the 2025 British Open
A post shared by Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia (@pgatouraus) The New Zealand Open champion doesn't typically garner a lot of attention when The Open Championship rolls around. As an automatic qualifier event, the tournament is prestigious, but doesn't normally draw the deepest field. When this year's champion, Ryan Peake, tees off at Royal Portrush on Thursday, he'll have just about everyone on the grounds rooting for his success. The 32-year-old former gang member who spent five years in prison is an incredible story of resilience and rehabilitation. Here's everything you need to know about the native of Perth, Australia making his major tournament debut at one of golf's most hallowed grounds. Why was Ryan Peake in prison? Yeah, let's start with the elephant in the clubhouse. At 21 years old, and a member of a motorcycle gang known as the Rebels, Peake was sentenced for assault. Here's what happened, per Golf Digest: Peake alleges that a person in his neighborhood made a threat to the Rebels. Peake and his friends were at a barbecue when they heard the man was home. 'I will be honest with you, mate, we went over to have a conversation, to let him know if he didn't knock it off, he was going to get punches to the head. That sounds harsh, but this person lived the same lifestyle as us, and the only way you can get through is to speak that language.' Peake and his associates approached the man's residence when suddenly the garage door ascended. According to Peake, the man reached for a 'brown object' tucked into his waistband. Peake delivered a preemptive kick, after which his companions joined the assault, one wielding a baseball bat. The confrontation resulted in multiple severe injuries to the man, including fractures to both arms and skull. (The victim did not respond to interview attempts made by Golf Digest, and his name is redacted from the public record for this case.) He initially began his sentence at the notorious maximum-security Hakea Prison in 2014, then was transferred to medium-security Acacia Prison before eventually getting to serve his final year at minimum-security Wooroloo Prison Farm. Peake was an amateur golf star before prison At one point, Peake was friends and teammates with Cameron Smith on the Australia junior team. He played in the Australia Open as a 17-year-old and finished 10th at the PGA Tour Australia's WA Open at 18 years old. He turned pro a year later in 2012. But he was struggling with his mental health and increasingly began to burn out. When it seemed like his time in golf was over, Peake worked various manual labor jobs before falling in with the Rebels. A post shared by Asian Tour (@asiantour) He's coached by Ritchie Smith Best known for helping turn Minjee Lee — the older sister of PGA Tour star Min Woo Lee — into a three-time LPGA major winner, Smith has worked with Peake since he was an up-and-coming youth star. The two connected again while Peake was in prison and the coach wanted to help his old pupil make another run. But Peake had to get out of gang life first. Golf Digest details how he was able to do so while in prison: [Peake] requested a formal meeting with Rebels leadership inside the prison. 'I said, 'I know this sounds stupid, but this coach teaches some of the top-ranked golfers in the world, and he thinks I can still make it as a professional. I want to take this path.' I was worried because I didn't want them to think I was disloyal, but I felt like I owed it to all the people around me, and myself, to try.' To his surprise, he never received so many handshakes and hugs in one sitting. His youth might have had something to do with it, or maybe the Rebels saw what Ritchie saw. 'It's a tough life, being a bikie,' Peake says. 'I think they saw an opportunity for one of their own to better themselves. They were all telling me this could be my last chance. Go earn it.' Six years after he last played a round, Peake was allowed to work on his game in a prison-release program that allowed him to spend up to 12 hours outside the facilities under supervision. Peake won a club event while still in prison Three months into his release program, Peake won a club tournament by shooting a bogey-free round of 66. He gave a quick speech before going back to prison for the night. Peake credits this moment with fully reigniting his motivation. A Long-shot at The Open Peake has 1000-1 odds this week at The Open — tied for the second-longest on the board at BetMGM. It sure feels like he's already beaten those odds once before just by getting to this point.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Elvis Smylie earns US PGA Championship spot after late exemption granted
Shooting golf star Elvis Smylie will get to test himself against Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the like after being granted a special exemption into next week's US PGA Championship in North Carolina. Smylie had already earned a ticket back to this year's British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland after winning the 2024/25 Australasian Order of Merit. Now his US major championship debut is the latest perk for the 23-year-old's summer of excellence in Australia and New Zealand. Smylie follows on from the previous two Order of Merit winners, David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori, who were also granted late exemptions to play the season's second major. While the US PGA marked major championship debuts for Micheluzzi and Kobori in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Smylie enters having played The Open Championship at Royal Troon last year. He earned that spot through final qualifying and, although he narrowly missed the cut, has shown since that he is not overawed by the game's biggest tournaments. ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. Victory in the third event of the season, the WA Open, was a precursor to That win secured immediate status on the DP World Tour, where the Golf Australia Rookie Squad member has since accrued three top-16 finishes, including in back-to-back events in his two most recent starts in China. "I'm really excited for this opportunity," Smylie said in a post to Instagram. "Thank you to the PGA of America for the invite and to Chairman, Ian Baker-Finch, and his team at the PGA of Australia for all the help with this process. "I can't wait and I'll see you all at Quail Hollow." Smylie's inclusion bolsters the Australian challenge at the PGA Championship to seven, joining 2015 winner Jason Day, fellow former world number one Adam Scott, Smith, Cam Davis and 2025 PGA Tour winners AAP The ABC of SPORT Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
Perth Now
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
All smiles as Elvis earns late PGA Championship entry
Shooting golf star Elvis Smylie will get to test himself against Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the like after being granted a special exemption into next week's US PGA Championship in North Carolina. Smylie had already earned a ticket back to this year's British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland after winning the 2024/25 Australasian Order of Merit. Now his US major championship debut is the latest perk for the 23-year-old's summer of excellence in Australia and New Zealand. Smylie follows on from the previous two Order of Merit winners David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori, who were also granted late exemptions to play the season's second the US PGA marked major championship debuts for Micheluzzi and Kobori in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Smylie enters having played The Open Championship at Royal Troon last earned that spot through final qualifying and, although he narrowly missed the cut, has shown since he is not overawed by the game's biggest tournaments. Victory in the third event of the season, the WA Open, was a precursor to Smylie's stirring victory at the Australian PGA Championship, where he went toe-to-toe with Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman in the final group at Royal Queensland Golf Club. That win secured immediate status on the DP World Tour, where the Golf Australia Rookie Squad member has since accrued three top-16 finishes, including in back-to-back events in his two most recent starts in China."I'm really excited for this opportunity," Smylie said in a post to Instagram."Thank you to the PGA of America for the invite and to Chairman, Ian Baker-Finch, and his team at the PGA of Australia for all the help with this process."I can't wait and I'll see you all at Quail Hollow."Smylie's inclusion bolsters the Australian challenge at the PGA Championship to seven, joining 2015 winner Jason Day, fellow former world No.1 Adam Scott, Smith, Cam Davis and 2025 PGA Tour winners Min Woo Lee and Karl Vilips.
