Travis Smyth made a tap-in birdie at the sixth playoff hole just after sunset to see off fellow Australian Jack Thompson and win the inaugural ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship at Royal Auckland & Grange Golf Club on Sunday.
Thanks to his first victory in almost four years after a string of close calls which had led to growing frustration, the Sydney-based professional is now ranked No.1 on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia with just two tournaments to come on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria later this month.
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Smyth and Thompson finished on 15-under-par, one ahead of Justin De Los Santos from the Philippines, after a thrilling final round that saw seven professionals lead outright or co-lead at some stage.
Chasing his second professional win, Thompson, who started the final round tied for 19th and six shots from the lead, rocketed into contention by playing his last seven holes in six-under-par, posting an equal course record of eight-under-par 64.
As the clubhouse leader, he then had to wait almost two hours, seeing numerous challengers fall away, before Smyth joined him at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie putt on the par-5 18th to back up a birdie on the 17th.
But the sloping green and surrounds of the final hole on the composite course proved to be a huge challenge in the sudden-death playoff which produced no birdies over four attempts before a switch was made to the neighbouring short par-4 third.
After four putts to claim the title missed, including one from just outside a metre at the fifth playoff, Smyth eventually drove it onto the front edge of the green and two-putted from long distance, while Thompson could only manage a par.
“That 18th green is something else and I’m glad they changed the hole to the third, which is actually my favourite hole in the golf course. So it was very fitting,” he said.
It was a victory that the 31-year-old was desperate to see after collecting 21 top-10s since his last win – at the Yeangdar Classic on the Asian Tour.
An invitee for the return of professional golf to Auckland, Smyth now has a two-year exemption on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and can play the rest of 2026 and the next two seasons on the Japan Golf Tour, the co-sanctioning partner this week.
“I’m just so happy and over the moon that all the hard work, all the consistency, it’s finally paid off,” Smyth said.
“I’ve had so many top-fives and top-10s over the last four or five years and I’m watching guys win tournaments and not play as consistent as I am. And I’m just thinking ‘when’s my time going to come?’ It was this week. I’m so happy.”
With the 760 Order of Merit points he earned today, Smyth has now tallied 965.4 points across the three-leg New Zealand swing – his first Australasian events of the season. He had top-fives at both the Quinovic NZ PGA Championship and NZ Open presented by Millbrook Resort.
He leads Cam John by 204 points with each win in the final two tournaments – the Heritage Classic and The National Tournament – carrying 190 points.
“It’s a good feeling. The job’s not done,” he said with the Heritage Classic, starting on Thursday, next on his agenda.
Thompson’s runner-up finish was his second in as many years in New Zealand, coming just 12 months after missing out on a playoff by a shot at last year’s New Zealand Open.
Now 11th on the Order of Merit, he wasn’t even considering being in contention late on Sunday when he began his final round.
“I thought I’m still pretty far away. I just thought I’ll have a good round, hopefully sneak into the top five,” the South Australian said post-round.
“But to be honest, I wasn’t even really thinking that far ahead,”
On an ever-changing leaderboard, it was De Los Santos who looked to be taking control when he led by two early in the back nine.
However the Japan Golf Tour member bogeyed the par-5 12th and parred his way to the clubhouse.
“Obviously, I saw the leaderboard on 12 and I saw I was at 15-under and didn’t quite stay there, but it was a good week overall,” the US-based professional said.
“I’m hoping we come back here next year and maybe I can try and get that one.”
Australian James Marchesani’s victory chances took a huge body blow when his tee shot at the par-4 eighth went out of bounds, leading to a triple-bogey seven.
A tie for sixth place at 12-under kept Marchesani (71) in third position on the Challenger PGA Tour Order of Merit, trailing Smyth and John, who dropped to second after finishing equal 31st today.
The No.1 ranked New Zealander in the field this week, Kazuma Kobori, couldn’t mount a final-round charge but still finished as the leading player from the host nation, carding a 71 to take a share of seventh in a group that included overnight leader Ryan Peake (73).
Meanwhile, the first champion of a co-sanctioned Australasian-Japan event is looking forward to the new career possibilities that lie ahead.
“Japan’s one of my favourite countries to visit and play golf in,” Smyth said.
“I’ll definitely play whatever tournaments I can. I’m very much looking forward to that.”
The DP World Tour awaits if he can hold onto the OOM No.1 when the final putt drops at The National.