Australian Travis Smyth has accomplished his spectacular 12 months on the Asian Tour, ending third within the money-spinning, season-finale on the Saudi Open to soar to fourth total within the Order of Benefit standings.
The 28-year-old from Shellharbour, whose spotlight of the 12 months was changing into the primary man to fireside a hole-in-one on the brand new seventeenth gap at Royal Liverpool within the British Open, needed to give finest to exceptional Thai teenager Denwit Boriboonsub within the $US 1 million ($A1.5 million) occasion in Riyadh on Sunday.
Boriboonsub, simply 19, gained his third occasion in successive weeks to assert the $US 180,000 ($A270,000) first prize, ousting veteran former British Open champion Henrik Stenson by three photographs with Smyth an extra shot again.
The Australian, whose different declare to fame was banking $A1.1 million in a single week final 12 months throughout the infancy of the LIV Golf venture, shot a final-round, four-under par 67 at Riyadh Golf Membership to attempt to pressurise {the teenager}.
However he needed to accept a considerable third-place prize pot of $US 63,000 ($A94,000) to complete what’s been a high quality 12 months, as he leapt three locations to fourth within the remaining Order of Benefit standings which have been headed by American Andy Ogletree.
Not one of the opposition might deal with the persevering with, seemingly nerveless excellence of Boriboonsub, who had gained the Aramco Invitational two weeks in the past on the Asian Growth Tour and adopted up with victory on the Thailand Open final week.
The teen trailed compatriot Phachara Khongwatmai by one going into the ultimate spherical, however his good 64 on the ultimate day was the joint-lowest spherical and enabled him to complete on 18 below after he had recorded eight final-afternoon birdies.
Armed with water bottles, his fellow rivals ran on to the inexperienced and drenched {the teenager}, who was left muttering incredulously afterwards: “It’s an unbelievable feeling as a result of it’s unimaginable successful three weeks in a row. It’s like magic!”
Smyth’s fellow Australian Todd Sinnott, who had been the co-leader at midway and was solely two photographs behind going into the ultimate spherical, slipped down the sphere with a 70 which left him in joint-Tenth place on 11 below.
In addition to selecting up a $US 20,000 ($A30,000) cheque, the efficiency, simply as importantly, ensured that Melbourne’s Sinnott would preserve his Asian Tour card for 2024 on the $US35 million ($A52 million) circuit.
