Q.  Travis, nice 7‑under 65, that’s got to feel a good way to start the Vic Open.

TRAVIS SMYTH:  For sure.  I’ve never gotten off to a good start here, so teeing off early this morning in pretty calm conditions, yeah, 7 under I’ll take any day.

Q.  And would I be right in saying you made a bit of a nice long putt on the seventh to get things kick‑started a little bit?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Yeah, so I got off to a good start, hit some pretty good shots close, three sort of easy birdies, easy‑ish, and yeah, holed like a 25‑footer and that was to get to 4 under through seven.  That’s when I really sort of felt the momentum.  Yeah, just really played well all day basically.

Q.  This is coming, isn’t it?  This is building and building?  You were close in New South Wales, you had some good results in Asia to start this year.  This is coming?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Yeah, 100 percent.  Haven’t been around the top of the leaderboards for too long, but I believed right from the get‑go winning that event as an amateur, I will be up there eventually and consistently, so it’s starting to trend in the right direction.

Q.  Have you ever had a moment where you thought it’s not going to go that way? 

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Oh, yeah, for sure.  I mean, middle of the year of my first year, even middle of last year in Asia, I just couldn’t really figure it out.  I don’t know, just felt a bit off and scores weren’t really reflecting too much of how I was playing.  Just felt like everything was against me a little bit.

Yeah, just sort of pushed through and a few things sort of changed and momentum is on your side again.

Q.  Do you watch your peers who have made a move and think about them or no?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Well, at first that’s what kind of would get to me a little bit, like guys that I would mix it with as amateurs doing well.  In a way it gives me confidence that I can go and do what they’re doing, but it also made me get a little impatient at times because, you know, I wasn’t playing so well.  I just felt like I should be.  Yeah, up and down.  But now I just try and really ‑‑ I’ve learnt that that doesn’t really get me anywhere and just really focus on what I have to do, keep trying to play well.

Q.  What are you going to do mentally here deep in this thing on Saturday and Sunday afternoons?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Just try and hit golf shots and try and putt well.  For me around here, the winds are quite tricky.  A lot of shots off the left, and me as a right‑hander, I struggle with a little bit, but I’ve always said if I can nail that shot, I think I’ll do pretty well around here.

Q.  You’ve got to tell us about this hat, mate.  People are giving you grief about the man‑bun, which you’ve covered up with this floral hat.  What’s going on?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Look, I don’t know.  I’ve never worn anything outrageous like this before.  They showed me the whole bunch of hats and it was just you’re playing whites, navies, blacks; I just thought I would mix it up.

Q.  Going to keep going with it?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  Maybe.  I’ve got a couple hats, a couple just like this, so yeah, you might see me around wearing this day in and day out.

Q.  You’ll play nude on Sunday if you win the trophy, right?

TRAVIS SMYTH:  I don’t know if I could do that.  I’ll leave that for Brooks Koepka and Greg Norman and all that.  I’m not there yet.