The boy from Warrnambool is yet to break through in an Australian Open or a BMW Australian PGA Championship, and major championship glory has proved just as illusive.

However, if playing – and surviving – 38-holes on Tuesday at US Open Final Qualifying wasn’t evidence enough, 41-year-old Leishman revealed to Australian media today that despite his nearly three-year absence from the sport’s greatest tests, his hunger still burns bright.

“Obviously golf’s a funny game and you need a lot of stuff to go right on the right weeks, particularly the major weeks,” he said.

“I’ve never treated them any different to the event I’m playing this week or to the Australian PGA or whatever it might be.

“I just sort of prepare the way I prepare and hope that I’ve got my good stuff on the right week.

“I feel like that my game is probably as good as it’s ever been. My mindset is as good as it’s ever been and hopefully I can get the breaks and come out on top.”

Leishman has six top-10s in majors, yet none have come at the US Open, which he confesses have not been his “forte”.

Tied for 14^th at The Country Club (Brookline) in 2022 – his last US Open start – is his best finish to date, however prior to that, it was his T18 finish in the 2016 championship, at none other than next week’s venue, Oakmont Country Club.

While the US Open may have not proved kind to Leishman in the past, he says that Oakmont is a very familiar and inviting venue for him.

“I love it,” he said of the Pennsylvanian links-inspired layout. “I love the feel of the place, not even just at a US Open, obviously there’s people everywhere and all that, but the feel of the golf course, it’s very working class.

“It reminds me a lot of home. The members are all, they seem like really good people and I feel like I fit in there.

“The golf course is unbelievable. I love how hilly the greens are, how fast the greens are. I feel like if I can have a good week with my driver, and I’ve been driving it well, I can really let my iron play do its thing.”

Yes, Leishman would have loved to have been a part of the 2023 and 2024 majors, however he says the two years away has given him some added perspective which may bode well for him at Oakmont.

“I never really enjoyed the mental test of it to be honest,” he said of the most penal of the men’s major championships. “Obviously I enjoyed being there, but how mentally draining it is, I never really enjoyed that.

“I think the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve embraced that and enjoyed it.

“Also the way my game’s evolved over the years, I’m driving it a lot better or probably better than I ever have, and I’ve gradually improved that over the last, particularly since probably about 2015.

“It’s gotten a lot better since then and I think that lends itself to good play in the US Open.”

Leishman will be joined at Oakmont by fellow Australians Cam Davis, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith.