Golf: Japanese life good for Smail

David Smail's late-year success in Japan has not tempted him to have another crack at the US PGA Tour.

The Hamilton golfer won the Casio World Open title on Sunday by a stroke, lifting him to sixth on the Japan Tour this year.

It was his third win on the Tour, after capturing the same event and the Japan Open in 2002, and took his career earnings in almost seven years on the circuit to a healthy $4.5 million.

Smail has a five-year exemption until the end of 2007. Having had a small taste of the US Tour and not particularly liking what he saw, he's happy where he is and with the lifestyle the Asian circuit has given him.

His wife, former New Zealand international Sheree Higgens, and their two children, Charlie, 6, and Emily, 4, live in Hamilton.

Smail gets home about once a month for a few days, recharges his batteries and therefore avoids the dangers of the weekly grind.

The year began slowly for the 2001 New Zealand Open champion and he admits his exemption may have unwittingly played a part.

"At the start I was so keen to get established and get my card," the 34-year-old said. "With the exemption you are a bit more content and you find yourself drifting through weeks a bit.

"I was thinking, 'Here we go, another year', so the end of this year has been great for my confidence and reminded me how much I do enjoy playing up here."

Smail said he had battled when the tournaments got to the business end this year. "I'd started thinking too much about winning, whereas on Sunday I controlled my emotions a bit better and thought about each shot, rather than what the end result could be."

It has been a lean year for New Zealand golf. The best-ranked player, Michael Campbell, has been in free-fall. The one-time top-20 player, is now at No 82 and can't buy a putt.

With American-based Craig Perks, Grant Waite and Steve Alker all battling to make much impact this year, and Phil Tataurangi just returning from an injury break, Smail's success - plus Michael Long securing his US PGA Tour card for 2005 - are the only bits of bright news for the sport at the top level.

Smail's win bumped him up to No 110 on the world rankings. He admitted if he kicked off next year in strong form he might be tempted to have another dabble in the US.

"I try not to look too far into the future, but America wasn't the place for me," he said. "I played there a couple of times and didn't really enjoy my weeks. But if I felt my game was at a much better level I might consider going there again."

Smail will play his final event in Japan this week, the $1.35 million Nippon Series JT Cup in Tokyo, which is for winners of the 29 tournaments on the circuit over the year.

Then he heads to Melbourne and the Australian Masters starting at Huntingdale on December 9, and after a lengthy break lines up in the New Zealand Open, starting at Gulf Harbour on February 10.

Our top ten

No 82 Michael Campbell

No 110 David Smail

No 277 Craig Perks

No 324 Stephen Scahill

No 468 Grant Waite

No 486 Michael Long

No 508 Mahal Pearce

No 553 Brad Heaven

No 559 Richard Lee

No 587 Gareth Paddison