The chance to return to golf's major championships and a burning desire to fill a glaring CV void are the two big motivators driving Marc Leishman's Australian Open title bid in Melbourne.
Relishing the opportunity to tackle the Kingston Heath and Victoria layouts on his favourite sandbelt courses, Leishman knows lifting the Stonehaven Cup on Sunday will open doors after being shut out since defecting to the LIV league.
Even a top-three finish would earn the 2015 British Open runner-up a ticket back to Royal Portrush for next year's Open Championship.
Leishman's LIV Golf rival Joaquin Niemann also received a surprise invitation to the Masters after winning last year's Australian Open in Sydney.
"Those three Open spots are huge, definitely a big drawcard for this event," Leishman said on Tuesday.
"We all want to be playing the majors, but certainly it's extra motivation to play well this week if we need any."
Leishman has missed the past eight majors, but, having slipped to No.575 in the world, has ruled out chasing rankings points to try to qualify for any of the big four tournaments of the year.
The prestige of having his name etched alongside golf legends such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and modern-day greats Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy is a bigger carrot these days for Leishman.
The 41-year-old also knows the clock is ticking in his quest to finally win on home soil, having captured trophies in the US, Europe and Asia.
"I'm obviously wanting to win one of these ones that I've come close to a few times," Leishman said.
"I grew up watching them, seeing Greg Norman and all the big Aussie guys winning them, and obviously it is a trophy that I want to hold up and probably something that's missing from my resume.
"It's just a matter of playing good on the right week, so hopefully it can be this week playing courses that I love.
"We'll see, but I've still got to have everything fall into place."
Everything almost fell into place last week at the Australian PGA Championship, where Leishman tied for third after playing in the final group on Sunday with great mate Cameron Smith and eventual winner Elvis Smylie.
"I didn't play exactly how I wanted to Sunday, but I played good enough to probably win," Leishman said.
"If all the putts I thought were going in had actually gone in, it might have been a bit different story.
"It's hard to win, and when you want something so bad it makes it even harder again.
"So maybe a little different mindset for me this week, try and go out there and have more fun, play a bit more aggressive like we do during the year in LIV.
"And the three-round events kind of lend themselves to a bit more aggressive play because you have to get off to a good start and (there are) less rounds to get work done.
"But I want to try and do that this week. It's looking like they're going to be a little softer than what we’re probably used to playing in pennant and all that, so you can be a bit more aggressive.
"I grew up playing these courses and it's maybe a little bit more American style of golf this week, and I'll try and play that style of golf."
