Cameron Smith returns to the site of one of the most important tournament performances of his career when he tees up at the PGA TOUR’s CIMB Classic this week.

Smith was a rookie member of the Asian Tour in 2014 when he earned a start in the co-sanctioned event and with scores of 70-69-69-68 at the TPC Kuala Lumpur layout posted a T5 result.

That earned him a place in the field the following week at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and while he missed the cut there his presence in America proved fruitful.

Smith’s outstanding play in Asia that year, where he posted six top-10 finishes in eight starts, combined with his performance in Malaysia earned him several sponsor exemptions in the U.S.

He spent much of the first half of 2015 there including teeing up in U.S. Open qualifying where he earned a place in the field at Chambers Bay and, famously, went on to finish fourth.

He eventually parlayed that result into a PGA TOUR card for 2016 and three years on is a full member of the TOUR with a tournament victory to his name.

Smith is one of three Australians to make the trip to Malaysia this week, fellow TOUR member Rod Pampling and Asian Tour representative Scott Hend also teeing up.

Hend will be looking to take inspiration from Smith’s story this week after aborting his effort to qualify for the PGA TOUR through the Web.com Finals last month.

This is the Queenslander’s fourth trip to TPC Kuala Lumpur and after two lacklustre performances he showed last year he has the game to contend here with a T7 result.

Weekend rounds of 63-67 saw Hend jump from the tail of the field into the top-10 and if he can eliminate the slow start he made in 2016 he could well contend again.

At 44 and based in Florida, Hend has made no secret of the fact he wants to return to the PGA TOUR and this tournament represents one of his best chances given his comfort level in Asia.

Nine times a winner in the region, including both of his European Tour victories, Hend likes both the conditions and the style of golf required in this part of the world and has every chance of being in the mix come Sunday.