Travis Smyth’s year just keeps getting better
Travis Smyth – image Asian Tour
The last six weeks in the career of NSW golfer, Travis Smyth, has left the 31 year old with an embarrassment of riches in terms of playing options and this weekend he added to that elevation in his career with a win in the International Series Japan event and, with it, the biggest cheque of his career.
Smyth charged home over the final round of the event held at the Caledonian Club in Chiba near Tokyo to win the US$360,000 cheque – by some margin the biggest of his career, and take the lead on the Asian and Japan Tour’s Order of Merits to go with his success in leading the recently completed PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Smyth began the year with a 3rd place finish at the opening event of the Asian Tour in the Philippines, then followed up with a great run in New Zealand where he finished 5th at both the NZ PGA and NZ Open Championships before winning in Auckland.
The Australasian Tour Order of Merit victory earned him a DP World Tour card for 2027 and a start at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July, the win in Auckland now has him with full Japan Tour status for 2026 given its joint sanctioning with the Japan Tour and of course he has status on both the Asian and Australasian Tours.
Smyth’s powerful finish, which saw him play the final six holes in 4 under, included a putt for eagle from 20 feet at the last to snatch victory over Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita, both of whom had finished at least an hour earlier.
Smyth’s nearest rival in the race for PGA Tour of Australasia honours, Cameron John, was the next best of the Australians when he finished in a share of 7th and earned a cheque for US$44,000, like Smyth securing his biggest career cheque to date.
