Tournament Information

• Tournament name: International Series Japan
• Date: 2-5 April 2026
• Venue: Caledonian Golf Club, Chiba, Japan
• Par/Yards: 71 / 7,126 yards
• Purse: US$2million
• Asian Tour leg: Third
• International Series leg: First
• Edition of tournament: Second
• Previous winner: Lucas Herbert (AUS), score 264 (-20) won by five shots at Caledonian
• Total number of players: 156
• Format: 72-hole stroke play format with a cut after 36 holes for the top 65 professionals and ties.

Richard T. Lee.

Field Breakdown

• Order of Merit winners: Kazuki Higa (2025), John Catlin (2024), Andy Ogletree (2023), Sihwan Kim (2022), Jazz Janewattananond (2019), Scott Hend (2016), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2013), Jeev Milkha Singh (2006, 2008), Jyoti Randhawa (2002)
• Nationalities: 29
• Top contenders: Richard T. Lee (CAN), Kazuki Higa (JPN), Wooyoung Cho (KOR), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Travis Smyth (AUS), Kota Kaneko (JPN)
• Highest ranked player on OWGR: Kazuki Higa #133
• Number of amateurs in the field: 1
• Number of Japanese players in the field: 32

Miguel Tabuena.

Tournament Notes

• Canada’s Richard T. Lee, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, is off to a very strong start to his season on the LIV Golf League after winning the LIV Promotions event earlier in January. After recording two top-20’s in his first three events, he narrowly missed out in posting his first win on LIV after losing to Bryson de Chambeau in a playoff at LIV Golf Singapore and now sits in seventh place in the rankings. Lee’s impressive cut-streak on the Asian Tour now stands at 25, the last time he missed out on weekend play being the International Series Singapore in October of 2023.
• The 2025 Order of Merit champion Kazuki Higa from Japan is the highest ranked player on the OWGR in the field this week at number 133. Last season he won the Shinhan Donghae Open and Yeangder TPC in back-to-back weeks in september, and also posted five other top-10s during the season including T2’s at last year’s New Zealand Open early in the year and at the International Series Philippines in late October. Higa also captured the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit crown in 2022 after winning four events on his home circuit that season.
• Current Order of Merit leader Wooyoung Cho from Korea has been playing great golf since the end of 2025, winning the Philippine Golf Championship in February and recording a runner-up and a T6 in late 2025. Cho was part of the Korean team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2023 and is a two-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour.
• Travis Smyth from Australia has gotten off to a fast start of his 2026 season posting a third-place finish at the Philippine Golf Championship and a solo-fifth at the New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort to rank second on the Order of Merit. On the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia he recently claimed a win at the ISPS HANDA Japan-Australasia Championship to wrap up the 2025/26 Order of Merit win on that tour after a victory and two other recent top-fives. The Order of Merit title secures Smyth a place in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July, as well as a card on the DP World Tour in 2027.
• Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand, currently in third place on the Order of Merit, started his 2026 campaign with a very strong statement at the season opening Philippine Golf Championship with a runner-up finish, pushing the eventual winner Wooyoung Cho from Korea all the way to the end. Pavit, historically a slow starter to his seasons, then followed it up with another T2 in a playoff loss to compatriot Danthai Boonma on the All Thailand Tour a week later. His last tournament saw a T44 at the New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort.
• Japan’s Kota Kaneko won the Japan Golf Tour Money list in 2025 after two victories and nine other top-10’s.
• Caledonian Golf Club opened in 1990. Its course was designed by J. Michael Poellot and since hosting the Japan Professional Championship in 2000, it has also welcomed other notable tournaments – including the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup Golf.
• The International Series Japan is owned by LIV Golf and managed by 54 with the help of DSE.

Caledonian Golf Club.

All pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Sampson Zheng [main picture] and Taichi Kho compete in the International Series Japan this week playing with extra incentive.

The event starts tomorrow at Caledonian Golf Club and is the season-opener on The International Series. Both players arrive not only in form but with family history and heritage on their side.

Zheng was born in Japan to Chinese parents before moving to the United States at age 10. A year before departure he first discovered golf in Nagoya.

“I started at a driving range with my uncle, that’s where I fell in love with the game,” said the Chinese star. “It was the sport I struggled with the most, which is probably what drew me to it.”

Zheng turned professional less than two years ago and made an immediate impact with a tied fourth finish at the International Series England, followed by a runner-up result at the Mandiri Indonesia Open – where he lost in a sudden-death play-off.

His upward trajectory continued through 2025, including a tie for fourth at the International Series Philippines, a top-10 finish in the International Series Morocco, and at last year’s inaugural International Series Japan, also played at Caledonian, he placed tied 17^th.

Taichi Kho. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

“My game is starting to come together,” said Zheng. “I’ve been driving it well and the putting is improving. If I can putt well this week, I think I can give myself a good chance, and if that can translate into a strong start on The International Series Rankings, that would be a big bonus.”

Hong Kong number one Kho, meanwhile, arrives with his own strong ties to Japan. With a Japanese mother and a base just outside Tokyo, he considers this week a home event in every sense.

“It’s great to get The International Series underway here in Japan. The course is in fantastic condition, and this time of year, with the cherry blossoms, makes it a really special setting.

“Since turning professional, I’ve spent more time competing in Japan, and this year as a JGTO member, I’ll be here regularly. Sharing the stage with fellow JGTO players across the Asian Tour and The International Series makes it even more meaningful.”

Kho has won once on the Asian Tour, at the World City Championship in 2023, at his home club – the Hong Kong Golf Club. In 2024 he came close to earning a place on the LIV Golf League for the 2025 season when he tied for second at LIV Golf Promotions, two shots behind the winner and qualifier Lee Chieh-po from Chinese-Taipei.

The International Series is the upper-tier level of events on the Asian Tour that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League through The International Series Rankings.