Golf-Australian Smith says dry and windy St Andrews feels like home

St Andrews is 10,000 miles from where Cameron Smith first learned to hit golf balls in Brisbane but the Australian says a fast and dry Old Course makes it feel like home.

St Andrews is 10,000 miles from where Cameron Smith first learned to hit golf balls in Brisbane but the Australian says a fast and dry Old Course makes it feel like home. Smith hopes to go one better than compatriot Mark Leishman at St Andrews in 2015 and become the first Australian to win the Claret Jug since Greg Norman in 1993.

The 28-year-old finished tied 10th at last week's Scottish Open down the coast from St Andrews, and believes the unique puzzle of the Old Course suits his game. "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," Smith, easily recognisable for his trademark mullet hairdo, said after practising with Leishman and fellow Aussie Adam Scott on Wednesday.

"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. "It's almost worth just hitting driver up into the rough and hoping you get a good lie and kind of play it from there."

Smith said being creative will be the key over the next four days when the course is expected to be bone hard. "Around the greens, there's so many different options. I think you can putt the ball here from, it seems like, 50, 60 yards, which is a little bit different to what we're used to.

"But there's so many options. I've been hitting every club, it seems like, in the bag, from 30, 40 yards in, and just really seeing what happens, getting used to the conditions. "Trying to be creative is, I guess, the theory the last few days. 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."

Should Smith prevail, the mullet is going nowhere though. "I've always said that if I won a tournament or did something good, I would cut it off. And I've done that a couple times this year, and it's still on there," he said.

"So I'd like to say I would cut it off, but it's probably not going to happen. I feel like it's almost a part of me now. "People recognise the hair and makes a few people laugh. Yeah, it's good."