Matt Millar will use a three-week around the world tour as his launching pad for Australian Open success as he attempts to secure his full-time professional future on Thursday.
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Millar is back in Australia after a whirlwind trip to Japan and Spain where he narrowly missed opportunities to qualify for the Japan and European tours after quitting his teaching job to focus on his professional career.
The Canberra golfer admits a hectic schedule and the emotional rollercoaster of failing to secure lucrative tour cards took its toll.
But Millar is confident he can harness the frustration and use it to his advantage when he starts his opening round of the Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
The 41-year-old will also play at the Australian PGA championship at Royal Pines next week and hopes to finish high enough to gain exemptions to tournaments around the world.
"If you had spoken to me last week, I wasn't thinking all that positively," Millar said.
"But I've had a few days to let it sink and re-evaluate things by looking at what's ahead. The first thing is playing well at these two weeks back in Australia.
"There's no reason why I can't, I've played well in these tournaments many times. That's what's in front of me at the moment.
"I felt pretty low after last week's result at the European qualifying school, but it was always a case of needing to play quite well to get the card and I did at times, but came up a bit short.
"I still think I'm playing well and playing well enough to have a good crack at the Australian Open and the PGA. It's been quite a journey the past three weeks and a lot of pressure golf, but you always look forward to this week."
Millar's intense schedule started two months ago when he decided to finish his teaching professional job at Gold Creek to reignite his his professional career.
His first goal was qualifying for the Japan tour, but he fell short by an agonising three shots at stage three of the qualifying.
The next challenge was stage two of European qualifying in Valencia. He advanced and moved to the final leg at Tarragona to play six rounds to clinch a spot.
Millar missed a full-time main tour spot, but the door is ajar for him to compete at Challenge tour events next year.
But the next two weeks loom as the biggest opportunities for Millar, who is ranked No. 14 on the Australian order of merit.
If he performs well at the Australian Open and the Australian PGA, he will move up the rankings. The top-ranked player without a European tour card will get an exemption at the end of the summer.
"It wasn't really what I was after, but there are some positives to it and it does open up a handful of spots on the main tour as well," Millar said.
"I'll keep moving forward. If I can win the Australian PGA that gets me exempt to Europe and the other part is if you play well enough and you're the highest ranked on our money list there's a chance there too.
"There are plenty of incentives to play well over the next couple of weeks. I'm certainly not going into the events with that at the front of my mind though.
"I just have to play my game and go through the process. Either way I know I need to play well ... hopefully it all falls into place."
Millar will be the only Canberra golfer in the field, which also boasts Australian star Jason Day and world No. 2 Jordan Spieth. Millar will start his tournament at 7.10am on Thursday alongside Cameron Davis and Kramer Hickok.
