In-form golfer Travis Smyth in Singapore to seek back-to-back Asian Tour titles

[SINGAPORE] Australian golfer Travis Smyth is in red-hot form at the moment, with the 31-year-old currently leading the rankings on three of the world’s main Tours.

He is now looking to win consecutive Asian Tour titles as he has his sights on the Singapore Open trophy this weekend.

Smyth will tee off at the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times, with a total of US$2 million in prize money on offer at the four-day event that starts on Thursday (Apr 23) at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.

He won the International Series Japan earlier in April to lead both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Rankings.

He is also sitting proudly on top of the Challenge PGA Tour of Australasia and Japan Golf Tour rankings.

From Apr 16 to 19, Smyth played on the LIV Golf League in Mexico, and then had to endure flight delays and cancellations before he finally made the long journey to Singapore.

Although he touched down at Changi Airport only on Wednesday morning, he told reporters at a press conference later in the day that he felt “great” ahead of the Singapore Open.

After all, he has performed fairly consistently in his previous appearances here – joint-24th in 2019, tied-11th in 2020 and joint-16th in 2022.

“I want to win again, and (stay on top of) the rankings too,” he said. “It’s still early days. It’s only the second event of the season (in Singapore). But yeah, I’m just trying to play some good golf, and we will see where we are at the end of the week.”

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Smyth will start just after noon on Thursday on the first hole, with Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren and Hong Kong’s top-ranked golfer Kho Taichi.

There is a whole host of LIV Golf players who stand in Smyth’s way, including the likes of Lucas Herbert, Peter Uihlein, Josele Ballester and Luis Masaveu.

Among the top Asian stars in town are former champions Sadom Kaewkanjana (2022) and Jazz Janewattananond (2019), both from Thailand.

Smyth’s Australian counterparts Wade Ormsby and Jediah Morgan are also expected to shine at the Singapore Open.

Ormsby is a multiple winner on the International Series, and managed a tied-12th finish in Japan.

He is also familiar with the Serapong layout, having played at the LIV Golf event on the same course in Singapore earlier this year.

Singapore’s hopes rest mainly on the shoulders of James Leow and Nicklaus Chiam, both recent Asian Development Tour winners, and the 58-year-old veteran Mardan Mamat, for whom this could be his swansong Singapore Open after 24 previous appearances.

New patron of SGA

Separately, on Wednesday, the Singapore Golf Association (SGA), the owners of the Singapore Open, announced a new patron in Desmond Tan, Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office and deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.

As patron, he will lend his support to the SGA’s mission of developing golf across all levels, from community participation to high-performance excellence.

In a statement, the association said that Tan’s appointment comes at a time of “growing momentum” for golf in Singapore, with increased participation, the staging of world-class events and progress by Singaporean players on the international stage.

“As a sport, golf embodies the important values of discipline, integrity and resilience,” said Tan. “I look forward to supporting the SGA as they work to make golf more accessible, nurture talents and contribute to Singapore’s success in the sport.”