Matt Millar admits "the circus" affected his game at the biggest tournament of his career in Mexico City over the weekend.
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The Canberra golfer faced the top 50 players in the world at the $14.5 million World Golf Championship Mexico, which world No. 3 Dustin Johnson won on Monday.
Millar struggled to find his groove at an event which featured Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Speith.
Millar finished 17-over and second last but it was a no-cut tournament so he still pocketed $70,000 for his efforts and will play in the New Zealand Open on Thursday.
The 42-year-old enjoyed a police escort from the airport and said the hospitality was like nothing he'd ever experienced.
"It was an awesome week to be part of. It's quite a circus and a real show, and you can't really do much for yourself, there's someone assigned to do everything for you, which is not what I'm used to, Millar said.
"It was just awesome hospitality and one of those experiences that you feel very fortunate to be a part of and would love to do again real soon.
"But unfortunately I didn't play well. My putting was just dreadful, the greens were extremely quick and slopey and undulating and I just never really gelled with them.
"I never had the pace, had countess three putts, it was pretty disappointing to come over and give that account of myself, I expected quite a bit more."
Millar will get another crack at the lucrative series when he tees off at the $14.5 million World Golf Championship Shanghai in November.
He believes he'll be better prepared to deal with the distractions in China.
"Looking at it over the week, when you don't play enough with these top guys and don't play in a circus-type atmosphere much, you find yourself wandering mentally," Millar said.
"You start thinking about what else is happening rather than keeping that focus on exactly what you should be doing.
"At certain times throughout the week, I'd find myself in that position, so it's definitely something to learn from before Shangai."
Johnson collected $2.5 million for his win and Millar - who won $236,241 last year - admitted the potential of a huge payday proved a distraction.
"In the back of your mind there are probably some of the wrong things knowing if you perform well it could be an incredibly big payday," Millar said.
"At the end of the day that's all part of the circus, I definitely love paying the rent, but you've got to be better in that situation.
"It's all part of golf if you're going to play at this level with the best in the world, then you've got to deal with that and be better.
"I'm just disappointed in terms of the way I played. I never gave up, I would love to say I did, but I tried my guts out which is probably more embarrassing, to be honest."
