With homegrown former world No.1s Day and Scott, as well as world No.19 Marc Leishman, notable absentees at The Lakes, Smith is the highest-ranked Australian in the field.

But Smith opened with a two-over-par 74 before a 71 in Friday's second round allowed Smith to make the cut by one shot and he will begin the third round nine shots off leaders Byeong Hun An (69) and Max McCardle (66) at eight under.

World No.33 Smith says he felt a duty to lift his game this week.

"I guess I did put a little added pressure on myself, which probably wasn't necessary," Smith told AAP.

"Everyone knows how much I want to win this tournament and I bummed myself out a little by trying too hard, rather than just relaxing and knowing what I can do."

The Queenslander believes he should have stuck to a proven formula that saw him finish fourth last year and second to Jordan Spieth in 2016.

"Most of the times I come back to Australia, I play some good golf courses and catch up with friends and family and have a lot of fun," Smith said.

"Throughout my whole career, even in the US, I always play my best golf when I've had fun on and off the golf course so probably a lesson learned the first round this week."

However, 2017 Australian PGA Championship winner Smith is refusing to rule himself out of Open contention.

Smith is confident of making a leaderboard charge on moving day.

"We'll get fresh greens and hopefully I can go out there and shoot a good score and get myself back in it," he said.

Australian Associated Press