Travis Smyth has never loved living out of a suitcase and travelling the world playing golf tournaments as much as he does right now.
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Perhaps this has to do with the fact that the Shellharbour golfer has ticked off one of his major goals by recently qualifying for the British Open.
Or maybe its because the 28-year-old feels like all his hard work is finally starting to pay off.
Smyth was in good spirits when he spoke to the Mercury recently, saying he was looking forward to ticking off more career goals in the coming months.
He said getting the opportunity to soon play in his first major was definitely a career highlight.
"I'm ticking off a huge goal. It's exciting," Smyth said.
The third place finish at the World City Championship in Hong Kong. which secured Smyth the British Open invite, underlines what has been Smyth's best start to a season on the Asian Tour.
In five starts he has had three top 10 results. He finished sixth in the PIF Saudi International and seventh in Oman.
But Smyth is not so sure if his all-round game is in career best form.
"Yeah, definitely mentally, career best form, but like, physically, I don't think so," he said.
"I feel like I've played better before, but I don't know, I'm just kind of getting myself over the line.
"I'm kind of in a way, feeling more comfortable on the course, even when my game doesn't feel that good.
"So, yeah, I'd say definitely my performance is a career high, but, I still feel like I got lots left in the tank if that makes sense."
Smyth plans on taking a short break now before teeing up in the International Series Vietnam on April 13.
"I'm undecided what to do after Vietnam. I might play a tournament in Korea, but probably not.
"I'm doing a US Open qualifier early June. So that's just 36 holes in one day. If I get in, then I'm in the US Open also.
"If I can qualify for two majors this year that will definitely qualify as my best year on the circuit."
Smyth, who turned pro in 2017 and has two professional wins to his name as well as a PGA Tour of Australasia win, is looking to take the next step and become a more consistent threat on tour.
"I don't feel like I'm the player I wanna be just yet. So I'm still trying to get better and I will continue to try and get better for the rest of my career," he said.
"So yeah, it's a step forward and upwards."
On the surface it seems the past six months to a year have been the making of Smyth's career. But the man himself though feels his good form of late has been as a result of years of hard work.
"After like a lot of the good results that I've had, I just feel really deserving because it's a result of, you know, the last five, 10 years or basically my whole life playing golf, of hard work.
"I'm the guy that tries to do everything as correctly as possible on and off the golf course. And this is just an accumulation of hard work and I'm seeking the rewards."
I'm the guy that tries to do everything as correctly as possible on and off the golf course. And this is just an accumulation of hard work and I'm seeking the rewards.
- Travis Smyth
Smyth conceded his good form of late was also a result of putting together a good team around him.
"I've put together quite a good team as of late. My coach, his name is Dean Kinney. I got him on board about, I don't know, six months ago. He's been an amazing coach and mentor," he said.
"My physio Matthew Green has also been great in helping me with my body.
"I've kind of had some lower back niggles, so he's been good.
"I have a strength and conditioning coach, Luke Mackie who's, you know, helped me through the process as well.
"I've just had a lot of support from a lot of people. Golf Australia have been a main sponsor of mine for the last five years.
"So, yeah, those names in particular have played a huge role and deserve a lot of praise and thanks."
Enjoying life on and off the course has also led to a stellar year for Smyth.
The golfer's home-base nowadays is Dubai but he also spends a few months of the year in Chicago spending time with his girlfriend while preparing for upcoming tournaments.
"I'm travelling around a lot. I don't really have a full time, you know, home base kind of thing. I'm always kind of living out of a suitcase. As inconvenient as that is, it's still very enjoyable," he said.
"I definitely agree that having a good work life balance is helping my performance.
"Having ticked off one goal by qualifying for the Open, I'd love to qualify for the US Open as well.
"I don't actually write down specific goals but I'd love to level up to like bigger and better achievements. Obviously in the back of my mind, whenever I have the opportunity to try and qualify for something like that I want to make sure I succeed.
"I just want to eventually just get on the PGA tour in the future or the Liv tour. They're the two biggest tours in the world.
"Continuing to level up and play in bigger better tournaments is kind of on the trajectory to one of those tours. So, you know, playing your majors definitely helps my game and confidence.
"I'm just trying to get better every day and let the results kind of keep flowing in and I guess this can only give you more confidence, kind of a result like this for sure.
"I've been playing good on the Asian Tour, the last, you know, 12 to 16 months and, I feel like I'm ready to, you know, test my game against the best players in the world during the British Open and hopefully the US Open too.
"I'm just really going to soak it all in and try and have a good week."
In the meantime, Smyth has made a quick trip to Melbourne to get his body right for the gruelling season ahead.
He is catching up with his golf coach and bio-mechanics coach Ryan Lumsden to work on his 'niggling back issues'. Smyth is also seeing a gut specialist to find out why he keeps getting sick every three to four weeks.
"The results are good but there's still many areas that I need to get on top of."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
