Smyth cruises to victory with closing eagle at International Series Japan – Golf News
Australia’s Travis Smyth finished with a stunning eagle on the 18th at Caledonian Golf Club to claim a stunning one-shot win at the International Series Japan.
In a hotly contested match at the Tokyo-based tournament, Smith drained a 20-footer to narrowly avoid a tie with Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita.
A brilliant final putt by Smith 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 impressive rounds of 62 and 63 respectively to go a long way. The former was tenth in the final group and Kinoshita was sixth.
Hongtaek Kim from Korea and Shugo Imahira from Japan had started the day in the lead but could not keep up with the set pace. Kim shot a 69 to tie for fifth while Imahira returned a 70 to tie for seventh.
This week’s $2 million event is the season-opening event in the International Series, and Smyth’s first success in the Series – the top tier of events on the Asian Tour that provides a path to the LIV Golf League, via the International Series Rankings. It is also his second victory on the Asian Tour, having won the Yangder TPC in 2022, and comes during an impressive run.
The 31-year-old from New South Wales won the ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia tournament last month which put him in a position to win the Challenger PGA Tour 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,” Smyth said of his closing putt. “As a young kid, you know, you’re in the green with the computers and your friends, you’re trying to log in to win, you’re trying to get a 25-footer to win. And that was unbelievable. I won a tournament two weeks ago, almost like a downhill putt, from left to right – I just used that. But yeah, to win that.”
Having started the second day behind the leaders, Smyth gradually worked his way through the nine-hole field with birdies on one, two and six. With the course playing about three shots easier today and players making a flurry 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 got the last two shots to complete the feat in regulation.
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 you there. In the past, it’s like you’re always trying to come up with excuses why you might not win, or why you might not hit the shot under pressure that you want, but I couldn’t turn the corner.”
“At 16, it was a crazy situation,” he said. “It hit the fence line, it had to be re-played, and I drove it to 36 feet and I made the putt. And the first ball was going about 20 yards to the right. So that was crazy. That’s the craziest eagle of my life. So that happened.”
