The 23-year-old Smylie, son of former Wimbledon tennis champion Liz Smylie, kicked off his season by winning the Australian PGA last November and has enjoyed a fine year since, currently lying 17th in the tour's Race to Dubai order of merit.
Now seeking to end the season over the next fortnight in the way he began it, the Queensland left-hander, the only Australian in the field, opened up in fine fashion on the celebrated Yas Links on Thursday, shooting a six-under 66, featuring six birdies and not dropping a single shot.
He was far from alone in finding a low score on Thursday, with European Ryder Cup heroes Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, playing partners on the day, inspiring each other to eight-under rounds of 64 among a five-way tie for the lead.
With seven players on 65 and Smylie joined by another half-dozen on 66, all tied for 13th place, Masters champ Rory McIlroy may even have felt he'd slightly missed out on the birdie fest as he began with a four-under 68 while seeking to win yet another Race to Dubai crown.
Smylie's score might have been rather poorer if not for coming up trumps with some long putts in his bogey-free round.
He started off with a 14-footer at the first only to sink a birdie putt from 31ft at the third.
Smylie peppered the flag for what were little more than tap-ins for birdies at the 10th and 12th, before enjoying the bonus of nailing a 44-footer at the short 13th. He capped off his round by taming the monster 617-yard final hole with another 30-foot birdie.
Among the pacesetters, Lowry made nine birdies and a bogey, while Fleetwood carded eight birdies in a flawless round to join New Zealander Kazuma Kobori, South African Richard Sterne and Frenchman Adrien Saddier at the top.
"I was paired with Tommy in India the first two days, and I shot 64 as well," said Lowry, reflecting on the recent championship in New Delhi where he finished third and Fleetwood took the title.
"So, yeah, something about me and Tommy. I just like playing with someone who's a friend and really good player too - and you kind of feed off each other."
The seven players who shot 65s were Michael Kim, Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark), Andy Sullivan (England), Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Germany), Nacho Elvira (Spain), Keita Nakajima (Japan) and Alex Noren (Sweden).
Fellow Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg made a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth, as he finished with a 68, alongside McIlroy, who ended with five birdies and a bogey.
