The Queenslander, beaming from ear-to-ear after his beloved Maroons claimed the State of Origin series, believes the hard and fast running Old Course with a bit of wind blowing will suit the 11-strong Aussie contingent looking to be the first Down Under winner since Greg Norman at Royal St. George’s in 1993.

“Yeah, absolutely this could be the year,” Smith said. “I would say this golf course probably reminds us a little bit of home. It's really firm and really fast, which I think the Aussies really enjoy.

“I think we're going to have a tough time keeping the ball on the fairway this week given how firm and fast and windy it's been. A lot of balls have been running off into the rough. So just got to be kind of wary of that.

“But Leish (Marc Leishman) and Scotty (Adam Scott) were hitting it pretty good today as well. So, it should be a good week.”

Weekend rounds of 68-67 at the Scottish Open for Smith to grab a top-10 spot were deserving of a day off on Monday. He spent some time exploring the cobble-stoned streets of St. Andrews and relaxing before getting down to the business of preparing for his Open assault. After two days on the Old Course, he says he’s ready to capitalise on what he believes is his best chance to win an Open Championship.

Cameron Smith plays from the 'hay' during the last day of practice. PHOTO: Getty Imagess

“I think it’s my best chance so far,” he said.

“I think I've played the best golf of my life this year, for sure. I love the golf course. It would be awesome to win an Open here for sure. I think it's everyone's dream growing up to win an Open at St Andrews.

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“So, don't want to jinx myself, but I'm feeling pretty good. The game feels good. I had a good weekend up at the Scottish Open. It was good to see some putts drop and a couple of low numbers over the weekend. So, yeah, hopefully I can get it done.”

Smith, who is making his first Open appearance at St. Andrews, confessed the Old Course had 18 potentially scary holes but the key for him to score well will be taking bad breaks on the chin and keeping the ball on the rock-hard fairways.

“You have to have all the shots down pat out there,” he said. “There's going to be some pretty ugly spots you get yourself into out there.

“Links golf is trying to hit the perfect shot and hoping for the best. You are going to get yourself into some ugly spots. You've just got to be ready for it. You've got to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

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While good mate Leishman, who lost in a playoff at the Open here in 2015, hasn’t offered too many pearls of wisdom on how to play the course, Smith has learned a lot from watching his Presidents Cup teammate.

“I've definitely watched him the last day. Leish is so creative, and he's able to hit those shots against the wind, which I think is going to be a really big advantage this week given the firmness of the fairways.

“We played the back nine today, and he was able to hit that little cut into the wind while I was kind of riding the wind and ended up in the rough. Leish was able to hit that cut into the wind and kind of keep himself on the fairways.

“Little things like that, I’m going to go work on before the first round and and hopefully he's helped me out.”