The lure of a British Open invite and three world golf championship events will add extra incentive to Matt Millar's Australian PGA Championship bid at Royal Pines from Thursday.
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But the Canberra golfer and Australian PGA Tour player of the year says he will avoid getting caught up in 'what ifs' to ensure he can carry his form into his last big event of the year.
Millar is still riding the wave of form that helped him secure the best Australian Open result of his career after he finished fifth at The Lakes in Sydney two weeks ago.
His confidence got another boost when he was unexpectedly named the Australasia player of the year at the Greg Norman Medal dinner on Tuesday, and now he's eyeing the No. 1 spot on the order of merit.
Millar is sixth and $84,000 behind order of merit leader Jake McLeod, with the winner of the $1.5 million Australian PGA to pocket more than $200,000 on the Gold Coast this week.
Finishing at the top of the order secures a start at the British Open and three events on the lucrative world golf championships circuit, which would be the perfect way for Millar to finish an up and down year.
"There are a lot of bonuses there to play for, and if you're aiming for the top three [on the order of merit] you've got to be aiming to win the tournament this week," Millar said.
"It will be hard work because it is a good field this week. A few players are back from the US, not to mention some of the European players who are out here as well.
"Competition wise, you're going to have to be on your game. There's definitely the incentive, but you've got to find the balance between thinking about that too much and just playing.
"If you go through and get it all right, there's a good chance you could secure one of those positions. But if you think about that and stop going through the process, you're going to be in trouble."
Millar will get a chance to go toe-to-toe with McLeod in the opening round threesome, which also includes last year's runner-up Jordan Zunic.
The 42-year-old has had mixed results this year. He started with a win in New Zealand, but struggled for consistency in Europe before returning to Australia.
He did find form again in Australia, finishing third at the Western Australia Open, fourth at the Victorian PGA, 14th at the NSW Open and then charging to fifth at the Australian Open.
His solid effort lifted him to the top of the Australasia tour tally board, but even he was surprised to be named player of the year at a function earlier this week. Royal Canberra Classic winner Minjee Lee won the Greg Norman medal.
Millar has now won the award twice after first claiming in 2015. "I thought there were a few guys ahead of me, but apparently after they tallied up all of the points ... I got over the line," Millar said.
"I did a lot of things really well at the Aussie Open, I was patient where I needed to be. It was good to take a lot of positives out of it, and I'll need that again this week.
"It's quite challenging with the shape of the greens here, it's hard to get near some pins. Being one of the shorter hitters, at times your faced with hitting a bit more club in. But if you pick your battles and choose the right ones, and don't make errors, I should give myself a chance."
