Rising golf star Cameron Smith is planning to repeat his formula of more balls and less beers in an attempt to successfully defend his Australian PGA title at Royal Pines next month.
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The 25-year-old Queenslander has rocketed to world No.32 after a stellar 2018 and is looking to cap the year with another individual title - with November's Australian Open at The Lakes in Sydney another event in his sights.
Smith will also partner with world No.16 Marc Leishman, who won the PGA Tour event in Malaysia on the weekend, to represent Australia in the World Cup of Golf at Melbourne's Metropolitan from November 21-25.
Smith said he previously had arrived home and spent too much time socialising but last year decided to focus more on his golf.
"Typically I've played well in Australia but haven't really worked that hard," he said on Tuesday.
"Because everyone wants to catch up and have a beer, sometimes the golf gets away from me.
"So last year I did less of that and spent some more time at the course and the results showed.
"Last year I put my head down and arse up and really gave it a crack."
Smith said victory on the Gold Coast gave him reassurance of his place in world golf, which he backed up with six top-five finishes this season, including at a tie for fifth at The Masters.
"It definitely provided validation that I was meant to be out there and I can win," he said.
"It was one of my big goals. I really wanted to get home and try and tick one of those off."
Lauded for his short game, Smith said he had been spending more time in the gym to add to his 78 kilogram frame and improve his length off the tee.
"My trainer and I have switched up the gym program to try and get a little bit stronger for next season, so I've been going pretty hard in the gym," he said.
"I'm trying to bulk up a little bit. My driving distance has improved heaps so I'm going to keep trying to do that."
Playing in Melbourne will mean entering the territory of another Cameron Smith - the Storm NRL captain.
"Everyone makes the joke to me that he's the real Cameron Smith but that just makes me laugh," Smith said.
"I actually got his autograph when I was in grade five and told him we had the same name and he had a chuckle about it."
Australian Associated Press
