A brutal northern hemisphere winter has been kind to the Warrnambool export, who will tee-off in the $US5.3 million Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

The 26-year-old spent his Christmas-New Year break sunning himself in Warrnambool.

"It's pretty cold over here at the moment," Leishman told The Standard yesterday.

"After spending two months back home, it's been a bit hard to adjust (to the weather), but it's been a good thing for me. I was able to practise at home, while it's been too cold over here for other guys on the tour to practise."

While Leishman is confident his swing is in shape, he is respectful of the San Diego tournament. He said it was one of the toughest courses on the US PGA Tour and was set to attract quality players.

"There are a lot of good players. Phil Mickelson, who it the world No. 2, will be playing. It'll be his first event for the year," Leishman said.

"It is a US Open course so it is really long and the fairways are narrow while the greens are undulating.

Leishman tied for 20th in his first 2010 tour tournament, the Sony Open, in Hawaii two weeks ago.

He is ranked 67th in the FedEx Cup, on 49 points, a position he was happy with.

"I have had a decent start. I finished 25th at San Diego last year, which wasn't too bad," he said. "Hopefully I'll go better than last year."

While San Diego has been spared the full force of the cold snap which gripped America's west coast, the Californian city is still frosty. Leishman awoke yesterday to a chilly five degrees.

"It's a lot different to Hawaii. Over there they had summer grasses on their course while over here they have their winter grasses," he said. "So it's a lot greener. I'm definitely looking forward to getting out there."