Australia’s Travis Smyth finished with a dramatic eagle on the par-five 18th at Caledonian Golf Club to sensationally win the International Series Japan by one shot.
In a riveting climax to the Tokyo-based tournament, Smith drained a 20 footer to narrowly avoid a play-off with Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita.
Smith’s brilliant final putt saw him shoot a seven-under-par 64 to move to 15-under, with Pavit and Kinoshita both in the clubhouse on 14-under.
Pavit and Kinoshita had earlier turned the tournament on its head by shooting scintillating rounds of 62 and 63 respectively to come through from much further back. The former was in the 10th from last group and Kinoshita the sixth.
Korea’s Hongtaek Kim and Shugo Imahira from Japan had started the day sharing the lead but were unable to keep up with the fast pace being set. Kim shot a 69 to tie for fifth while Imahira returned a 70 for equal seventh.
This week’s $2 million event is the opening event of the season on The International Series, and it is Smyth’s first success on the Series – the upper-tier level of events on the Asian Tour that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League, via The International Series Rankings. It’s also his second victory on the Asian Tour, having won the Yeangder TPC in 2022, and comes during a remarkable run of form.
The 31-year-old from New South Wales claimed the ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship last month which put him on course to win the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit for the 2025/26 season. He also finished third and fifth in the first two events of the season on the Asian Tour and now leads the Order of Merit, as well as The International Series Rankings.
“That’s what dreams are made of right there,” said Smyth about his closing putt. “As a young kid, you know, you’re on the putting green having putting comps with your mates, you’re trying to chip in to win, you’re trying to hole 25 footers to win. And that was unbelievable. I won a tournament two weeks ago, probably a pretty similar putt downhill, left to right – just drew upon that. But yeah, for it to go in like that, it’s the best feeling ever.”
Having started the day two behind the leaders, Smyth gradually worked his way through the field on the front nine with birdies on one, two and six. With the course playing nearly three shots easier today and players making a deluge of birdies on the back nine he still had a lot of work to do. Birdies on 13 and 16 saw him move one behind Pavit and Kinoshita before he gained two shots on the last to finish the job in regulation play.
He explained: “I’ve had a hard time trying to win tournaments. People don’t understand how hard it is to win, you know. Like it’s such a mind game with yourself out there. In the past, like you’re always trying to come up with excuses as to why you might not be leading, or why you might not be hitting the shots under pressure that you want to, but I don’t know, I’ve been able to turn a corner.”
“On 16, that was a crazy situation,” he said. “It hit the telephone pole line, got to re-tee, and then I drove it to 36 feet and made the putt. And the first ball was going probably 20 yards right of the green. So that was insane. That’s the craziest eagle in my life. So that happened.”
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