SINGAPORE - Travis Smyth will tee off tomorrow at the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times full of confidence – he currently leads the rankings on three of the world's most prominent tours – but with little energy after a long flight from LIV Golf Mexico City. The Australian is the man of the moment, having won the series opener, the International Series Japan, two weeks ago, to lead both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and the International Rankings. In a potentially unprecedented achievement, he also sits atop the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and Japan Golf Tour Rankings – largely thanks to his victory at the joint-sanctioned ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship last month. It was the penultimate event of the 2025/26 season on the former tour and helped him win its Order of Merit, while it was the season-opening event on the latter.
Smyth realized his dream of playing on the LIV Golf League again when he was invited last week to participate as a Wild Card player in their event in Mexico City, but had to make a "mad dash" to get there, and then rush back here to play on time this week at Sentosa Golf Club. He explained: “So, I was on a 5 a.m. flight from Mexico City, which was delayed. We landed in San Fran, everything was delayed. At the gate, they wouldn't let us in, even though the plane was right in front of us. That flight then got canceled. I waited. We also waited, I don't know how long, 12 hours at the airport. I slept about 5 hours on the lounge floor and then flew here, arriving this morning at 7 a.m.” When asked how he felt at today's press conference, he said with a grin: “Feeling great.” He finished tied for 49th last week, having had little time to prepare after his win in Japan. Josele Ballester of Fireballs GC from Spain, Jazz Janewattananond from Thailand, Nicklaus Chiam from Singapore, LIV Golf Wild Card player Travis Smyth from Australia were pictured during the press conference ahead of the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times at Sentosa Golf Club, The Serapong. (Image by Asian Tour)
“I played terribly,” he said. “It was a good experience. I got to play the first three LIV events [in 2022], and that was incredible. And I was just so happy to be allowed to be back again. And even though I didn't play well, it was a super fun and exciting week, and I hope to be back again.” He won the Japan event under stunning circumstances, by scoring a birdie on the 16th and an eagle on the final hole, thanks to a career-defining, 20-foot putt that broke from left to right.
This week's US$2 million event is the second stop on the International Series this year, and it's the first time that Singapore's
