Cameron Smith will have plenty of good memories to draw on when he plays his third tournament as a PGA TOUR member in Malaysia this week.

It was at last year’s CIMB Classic that the 22-year-old’s march to the world’s biggest stage began, a T5 finish and cheque for $266,000 proving a crucial stepping stone in Smith’s rise to the PGA TOUR.

Having missed his first two cuts of the year in California and Las Vegas, Smith will be keen to cash his first cheque and with no cut in Malaysia that, at least, is guaranteed.

However, he will also be looking for an improved performance over recent weeks where he has struggled to find consistency and the more familiar surrounds in Asia can only be a help.

Smith is one of eight Australians teeing up in the Asian Tour co-sanctioned tournament this week, his place in the field allotted as one of the leading 10 money winners on the Asian Tour alongside Scott Hend and Andrew Dodt.

They are joined by Steven Bowditch, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott and John Senden, Scott the only one of the PGA TOUR regulars making his debut appearance at the tournament.

The 2013 Masters champion will use the short putter for his second consecutive stroke play event after a solid showing at the Japan Open a fortnight ago.

Though his putting stats for that week weren’t particularly good his seventh place finish indicates his ball striking is as solid as ever and as he gets more comfortable with the change in putting method expect his results to improve further.

Fellow Queenslander John Senden will be looking forward to getting back to the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club after finishing outright seventh in his first appearance last year while Matt Jones has unfinished business with the course.

The Sydneysider opened with an inexplicable 81 in last year’s tournament before posting rounds of 69-69-70 to finish well down the leader board, a more consistent performance likely this time around.

Of all the Australians, though, it is Scott Hend and Andrew Dodt who have the most to play for, both knowing how much one good week can change a career.

Both Dodt and Hend played their way on to the European Tour by winning co-sanctioned events in Asia and both know this week’s CIMB Classic offers the same reward for the PGA TOUR.

Hend played the tournament two years ago without great success but after the disappointment of missing the cut when defending in Hong Kong last week will be fired up for this week’s tournament.

It is Dodt’s first appearance at the event but after a top 20-finish in Hong Kong, including a brilliant final round 66, he will be quietly confident of a good result in Malaysia.