Australian golf sensation Karl Vilips has set his sights on Olympics Games glory after arriving on the international professional stage in spectacular fashion.
A week after finishing runner-up in Chicago, Vilips won his maiden professional title in just his sixth start at the Utah Championship on the secondary Korn Ferry Tour on Monday (AEST).
From world No.4507 six weeks ago, Vilips has slashed his ranking to No.237, making him already Australia's ninth-ranked player.
And with an extraordinary amateur and US college CV, the 22-year-old's meteoric rise is anything but a fluke.
"We always say 'I'm good enough to do it'. It's just a matter of when I'm going to do it," Vilips said when asked on Wednesday if he was surprised by his rapid progression in the pro ranks.
"When I stepped out on the course the first week, the first one I qualified for, I was confident in my abilities to compete.
"I felt I had the game. I felt like I was ready."
So he should have.
As a junior prodigy, the Melbourne-born, Stanford University graduate joined the legendary Bobby Jones as the youngest winner of the men's Southern Amateur at 15.
He was a five-time AJGA All-American, won the US Kids Golf World Championship at age seven and nine and the Callaway World Junior at 10 and 12.
Now sitting 15th on the Korn Ferry Tour standings, Vilips is firmly on track to secure a PGA Tour card next season by finishing in the top 30.
Coached for the past four years by esteemed mentor Colin Swatton, who guided fellow Australian Jason Day to world No.1, Vilips is already eyeing golf's greatest prizes.
Starting with an Olympic gold medal after being inspired by world No.1 Scottie Scheffler's heroics in Paris, not to mention the steely display of former junior rival and friend Min Woo Lee wearing the green and gold.
"It would mean a lot for me to obviously be on that team," Vilips said.
"I competed for Australia at the Youth Olympics so I guess the next step for me there was to be on the actual team there and winning gold for Australia is something that would be very special to me.
"Hopefully I can be a part of that team if everything goes well at the next Olympics."
While it has taken time for fans and even many of the game's stars to fully embrace golf's return to the Olympic program since 2016, Vilips believes the younger generation of players already consider it the sport's unofficial fifth major.
"I think the Olympic gold medal is something that my generation will strive for more than others," he said.
"2016 was tough with Zika, not everyone wanting to necessarily go over to Rio.
"Then COVID and 2020 (in Tokyo) was obviously also very tough.
"This year we really saw the first signs of guys really wanting a medal spot, a lot of emotions out of guys like Scotty and Tommy (Fleetwood) coming down the stretch there.
"I think my generation is taking notice and I would say at least the next Olympics and even the Olympics after that (in Brisbane in 2032) it's going to be something that we show up for and everyone really wants to win.
"We obviously haven't really seen that from the last two prior to this one."
