The Shellharbour golfer played seven-straight tournaments to close out 2019, a necessity to raise his place on the PGA Order of Merit and secure his Asian Tour card for the coming year.

While he was under significant pressure, Smyth was able to produce a number of impressive results throughout the period. The highlight came in November when the 25-year-old finished second in a playoff in the NSW Open behind Josh Younger.

With his 2020 kicking off with the Hong Kong Open on Thursday, Smyth is looking forward to building on what was a successful finish to the season.

"I am very happy to have finished the year off well," Smyth said. "I played seven events in a row to finish the year purely because my back was up against the wall and I had to earn money on both the Aussie and Asian tours to keep my card.

"I almost won the NSW Open and then was 15^th at the Australian PGA which jumped me up to 15^th on the Order of Merit in Australia and I played very consistently to finish 43^rd on the Asian Tour.

"I spent New Years in Vietnam and Cambodia, so had some time to relax, but now I'm back into it."

Smyth won't have time to rest after this week's tournament at the Hong Kong Golf Club, with the Singapore Open and Victorian Open to follow in the next fortnight.

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The 25-year-old turned pro in October 2017 and while he acknowledges there are plenty of careers that are far tougher than playing golf, he concedes the demands of the constant international travel can make achieving regular results particularly tricky.

"I wouldn't call being a golf professional tough, there are much tougher jobs out there when you really break it down.

"The thing that makes my job tough is traveling so often and turning up to these foreign places and trying to perform at a high level against 120 other players.

"Ninety per cent of the time I'm able to truly keep a level head, but there are times when I don't cope so well.

"Deep down I have a strong belief in myself so when I get a bit angry at myself after a poor performance I do get over it very fast.

"I have a lot of great people around me that help support me through those tough stretches."

While Smyth enjoys the individual nature of golf and having time to himself, he does travel with a caddie.

Thursday's tournament will mark a key change for the golfer, with Steve Walsh signing up to carry the bag for Smyth throughout the year.

An experienced caddie who has worked with a host of Australians, Smyth is looking forward to learning from Walsh.

"I have a new caddie this year, which I'm excited about," Smyth said. "He's been around for a while and is very experienced. I believe he will help me a lot."

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