Travis Smyth of Australia. Picture by Graham Uden / Asian Tour.
Travis Smyth produced a moment to remember at Caledonian Golf Club near Tokyo, draining a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-five 18th to win the International Series Japan by one shot. The Australian’s stunning finish capped a final round of seven-under 64, lifting him to 15-under-par and narrowly ahead of Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita, who both posted 14-under.
“That’s what dreams are made of right there,” said Smyth of 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 hole 25 footers to win. And that was unbelievable.”
Pavit and Kinoshita had earlier surged into contention with superb rounds of 62 and 63, respectively, setting up a dramatic finish. But Smyth, starting two shots back, steadily climbed the leaderboard with birdies on the first, second, sixth, 13th, and 16th before his decisive eagle at the last.
“You know, I won a tournament two weeks ago… just drew upon that. But yeah, for it to go in like that, it’s the best feeling ever,” he added.
The victory marks Smyth’s first on The International Series and his second Asian Tour title, continuing a remarkable run of form that includes a recent win at the ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship.
Reflecting on his journey, he said: “People don’t understand how hard it is to win… it’s such a mind game with yourself out there… but I don’t know, I’ve been able to turn a corner.”
Pavit, who fired the lowest round of the week, said: “Today I played pretty much like perfect golf… everything was like on momentum.”
Austen Truslow finished in fourth on his own, two behind the champion. He closed with a 65, helped by an unlikely and adventurous eagle on the par-four 16th. Remarkably, his first tee shot hit some overhanging cables which allowed him to replay the shot. He promptly found the putting green in one and made his eagle putt from about 30 feet. The American faced a similar length for eagle on 18 but was unable to convert that attempt to catch Pavit and Kinoshita.
“On 16, I mean, 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.”
The Asian Tour heads to the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times next. The US$2million event will be played on The Serapong at Sentosa Golf Club from 23-26 April and is also part of The International Series.
