MARC Leishman’s preparation for two tournaments on Australian soil will include a relaxing visit home to Warrnambool.
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The American-based world number 19, who will land in Melbourne on Friday morning, will return to the south-west ahead of the World Cup of Golf and Australian PGA.
Leishman, 35, is eager to add to his four US PGA Tour victories and win a major competition in his home country.
He will team with countryman Cameron Smith at the World Cup of Golf at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Golf Club from next Wednesday before jetting to Queensland for the Australian PGA.
“I have won more events in Australia but never one of the big ones so I am hoping I can do that,” Leishman told The Standard on Thursday before boarding a flight.
“I am hoping to do that this trip, not that it’s a monkey on my back but it would be nice not to get asked those questions next year.
“Once I get back that’s something that gets asked quite a lot and it’s something I am aware of too, so I’d like to get it taken care of at either the world cup or PGA.”
Leishman said he was fresh after a rare three-week break.
“It is exciting to be playing for Australia again in the world cup at a course I love,” he said. “I love playing in Melbourne, so I am excited for that, and the Australian PGA I got close there last year.
“I’d like to win both of them but either would be nice.”
Leishman and Smith are busy plotting a plan for the World Cup of Golf – a tournament which spans five days and includes teams from 28 nations. The 2015 British Open runner-up said they wanted to “put on a show”.
“Cam's had a good year, I’ve had a good year and we’ve been talking about it a lot – strategy because you have to share golf balls and all that sort of thing,” he said.
“We’ve got some tactics and I feel like we’re really well prepared. Foursomes is the more difficult of the two and you want to play well in the fourball, that’s where you really make up your ground.”
Leishman will return to the United States after the two tournaments before flying back with wife Audrey and their three children for Christmas in Warrnambool.
He estimated he had boarded between 50-70 flights in 2018.
“I am not only a professional golfer, I am a professional sleeper,” he joked.
“I can pretty much lay down anywhere and go to sleep. I don’t sleep as well now as I used to on planes just because I have to be mindful of my back.
“If I sleep in the wrong position, I get off the plane and I can’t play golf for a few days and I don’t want that to happen, so I have to be a little bit careful.”