Midway through the 36-hole dash for a place at the $A16 million-plus US Open major, Shellharbour’s Travis Smyth stood alone at the top of the leaderboard.
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At -6, Smyth was a genuine chance of making his dreams come true, a score which in the end would have been enough to force a playoff, hoping to line up against the likes of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman and Rickie Fowler, starting next month.
But a double bogey on the par four fifth at the Japan Memorial Golf Club – and another dropped shot on the ninth – sent Smyth’s campaign into a tailspin.
From there, Smyth was chasing birdies, rather than prizemoney, with just the top three earning their way into the New York tournament, the rest left to consider their hard luck tales.
Smyth – who is ranked inside the top 500 in the world since turning professional last year, which secured his spot in the 33-player field in Japan – birdied at the par-five 14th to offer some hope, but bogeyed the final three holes to finish -1 for the two-round event.
Japan’s Shota Akiyoshi carded a -6 for the second round to finish first on eight-under, ahead of Australia’s David Bransdon (-7) and China’s Liang Wenchong (-6).
It continues a run of close calls and near-misses for the Illawarra golfers, after big-hitting Port Kembla golfer Lincoln Tighe missed a putt at the Australian Open, which would have sealed a top-five finish and a place at the 2016 British Open.
Then Jordan Zunic almost took out last year’s Australian PGA, leading by three strokes into the final round, only to lose in a playoff to Cameron Smith, a US Masters start on offer. Currently on the European circuit, Zunic takes his shot at a US Open ticket in the England sectional qualifying leg, starting at Walton Heath on June 4.