Millar & # 039; s Mexican love affair

Matt Millar appears in only his second WGC event ever. Image: Getty

Matt Millar has the week of his life.

The 42-year-old Canberra professional has earned his place in the $ US10 million World Golf Championship Mexico tournament in Mexico City by finishing in the top two of the Australasian tour.

For Millar it is a God-send, a place in a field of less than 70 players without cut and a prize money of at least $ US50,000. And superfluous to say, much more than that if he plays well.

It is not his first appearance in a big Tour event – he played a WGC in China in 2016 and the Open Championship in 2011 – but he knew he was in "another world" when he was picked up in a Chevy truck at the airport and lively through the infamous traffic of Mexico City snarls at his city hotel by police motorcycles.

Millar told the "Inside The Ropes" podcast this week:

"I had heard that the traffic was pretty bad in Mexico, and I look out of the front and there is a police bike in front of us and behind us, they almost take you through all the traffic, it was a journey of half an hour, that was it. double, we drive on three-lane and four-lane roads and they push cards to the side

& # 39; They probably had the badge of the World Golf Championship on the side of the truck, thinking & # 39; that it might be Dustin Johnson or Tiger Woods inside & # 39 ;. They were perhaps disappointed when they saw that it was me! "

The lack of a cut means he can relax and bring his game against the best of this week.

"It's better not to worry about that and of course there's also the big wallet here," says Millar. "I do not think this will change the way I play like that, but it's more of a relief than anything else, you can walk away knowing you've had a good week before you start … It can be an incredible week, or it can just be a very good week. "

A 20-year-old tour veteran with a funky swing, Millar loved the look of the job at Club de Golf Chapultepec, which is tight.

"These guys are the best that go around and they prove it week in, week out, it will be a challenge for me to be up there, but if I start my putter and check my ball well, I think this golf course give me a good chance. "

Queenslander Jake McLeod, winner of the winning medal, is also in the field for his first WGC start. Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith are the other Aussies in the field.

Hear Millar & # 39; s full interview about Inside The Ropes here: