'At 7-Under Through 11, The Thought Of A 59 Crossed My Mind'

Through the 2026 season, Golf Monthly is teaming up with German touring professional Dominic Foos. You can find out more about Dom later in this article.

The 28-year-old is going to speak with us after each of the International Series events held between April and November to share his experiences and update us on his play and performances.

Introduced in 2022, The International Series is a set of elevated events co-sanctioned by both LIV Golf and the Asian Tour. It offers golfers a pathway to the LIV Golf League.

It also offers players significant tournament prize funds, the chance to earn world ranking points and qualify for Majors, and the opportunity to compete against top-level fields at amazing venues across the globe.

There are eight International Series events in 2026, being contested in Japan, Singapore, Morocco, India, Hong Kong, China, The Philippines and Saudi Arabia, where the season-ending PIF Saudi International offers a prize fund of $5,000,000.

The first International Series event was played last week at the Caledonian Golf Club in Japan. Foos carded rounds of 71, 66, 74 and then a scintillating closing 63 to finish 10-under-par and in a tie for 12^th, just five shots back of winner Travis Smyth of Australia.

It was a solid start to the season for Foos. Here’s his take on the week:

International Series Japan Diary

“First, I love Japan. Everything works well and seems to run so smoothly. The food is amazing and there’s so much to see. It was great to have my sister and brother-in-law out for the week and we had a fun time.

We stayed just 30 minutes from the course so that was easy and getting into central Tokyo was just an hour or so – although it’s a huge metropolitan area so you have to allow a bit of time to get around, wherever you're headed!

The Caledonian GC course is brilliant and it was in excellent condition despite being early season. The greens were running at 12 on the stimpmeter!

In the competition, it was a successful week but, the way I was playing, it might have been better. That’s so often the way it is in golf. Overall, though, I’m happy with a good start to the season.

In round one I played well tee to green. The Caledonian course is tough and scoring wasn’t super low. I just didn’t get anything going on that first day really.

I finished with a bogey and was pretty disappointed I must say. I felt it was as bad a score as I could have had.

I kind of knew what the issue was, though. It was the pace of my short to mid-length putts. Nothing around 10 to 15 feet was dropping. I realised I was just a bit too slow with them.

I like to hit them maybe two feet past and they were only just getting to the hole. That wasn’t right, so I worked on it for round two.

And Friday was good. I knew I needed a solid score to be sure of making the cut, but there was beautiful weather and I managed everything nicely to shoot a 66.

An eagle on the 16^th was a highlight. It’s a driveable par 4 but a tricky tee shot with trees to avoid. I hit one perfectly, though, and made the carry to the green which was over 300 yards.

I had a moment when I thought I had come up short in the bunker, but then I saw a ball in the shadow of the flag about three feet from the cup. That’s a great feeling. One of those moments in golf that you just think, “Nice!”

I made that putt, made the cut and that was part of the job done.

Then Saturday was a bit more of a struggle. It was a tricky day in general as the winds were strong. It was annoying as it was a chance for me to climb the leaderboard, but unfortunately, I went the wrong way on 'moving day.' A 74 was frustrating. I didn’t exactly play poorly, but I did score poorly. Just one of those days.

Things were quite different on the Sunday...

Any time you shoot eight-under for a round and go bogey free, pretty much everything in your game has to be working, but it was great to see some more putts going in.

I fixed a green-reading problem I felt I had in round three and my stroke felt good, and the putts started to drop.

My caddie, Ken Lowry – this is my second season with him by the way, and we’re getting on great – said: "Brother, you are playing way too well to be just two under through three rounds".

That really motivated me and I think I managed to convert the form I had into proper scoring on the final day.

It was fun that round, but hard not to let your brain get ahead. I must confess at 7-under through 11, the thought of a 59 crossed my mind.

So, I was proud to keep playing well to the end and maintain a clean card. It doesn’t help you when you live in the future on the golf course!

And that was it. 10-under and a tie for 12^th place. Against a strong field on a testing golf course. I was pleased with that and it sets me up well for the year.

I’m enjoying another day looking around Tokyo and just some relaxing time here before going back to my home in Dubai. I’m looking forward to having a week and a half to really get myself ready for the next International Series event in Singapore.

I’m going to try to sharpen up my wedge game a little. That’s normally a strength for me and I felt it could have just been a little better in Japan. Otherwise, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and feel I should be in good shape for Singapore.

It’s such an exciting series of events with great fields and strong prize funds. The level of competition is high and the quality of the courses is superb. It’s fun to be a part of and I hope to keep pushing forward into the second event.”

About Dom

Hailing from Karlsruhe in southwest Germany, Dominic Foos started playing golf aged three. As an amateur he won numerous junior events, including the French and German Boys championships, and he played in the Junior Ryder Cup of 2012.

He first played on the European Tour circuit at Crans Montana in 2014. Then, the following year, he won for the first time as a pro – the Challenge Tour’s Gant Open.

Coming out of the COVID years Foos decided on a change of tack. Based in Dubai already, he decided to go towards the Asian Tour.

He had a strong year in 2025. He won the SJM Macao Open in October, becoming the first German since Bernhard Langer to win an Asian Tour event.

Foos is a dedicated and disciplined character both on and off the golf course. When not playing or working on his game, he (as with so many modern professionals) likes to visit the gym.

He also works on both physical and mental health – last year he twice completed the 75 Hard Programme. If you don’t know it, it’s basically 75 straight days of following a rigid programme of health and physical and mental exercise.

You must complete a certain amount of physical activity and eat only a prescribed diet – no sugar and no alcohol. You must, among other things, also read at least 10 pages of a non-fiction book each day.

Look out for online diary pieces with Dominic throughout the season, after each of the International Series events.

If you have any questions you'd like us to put to Dom, please use the comment box below.

Not only will be discussing his play and his experiences on the International Series, but he will also cover some wider golfing issues and subjects of interest for both professional and amateur players.