Fresh off an inspiring first US PGA Tour victory in five years, Marc Leishman is determined not to have a golfing hangover at the World Golf Championships-Match Play in Texas.
The 33-year-old Australian stole a gutsy, come-from-behind win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Monday - his first title on Tour since the 2012 Travelers Championship.
Leishman grabbed one of the last spots for the Masters at Augusta, starting April 6 and rocketed up the world rankings from No.62 to No.32.
However, Victorian native Leishman's improved seeding for this week's WGC-Match Play in Austin, Texas, saw him book an all-Australian showdown with compatriot and world No.3 Jason Day in a tough group also featuring in-form American Pat Perez and England's Lee Westwood.
First up for Leishman is Wednesday's (Thursday AEDT) match against Westwood, who has gained a wealth of match play experience during eight Ryder Cup appearances for Team Europe.
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"Everyone in this tournament is a great player; you're not ranked within the top 64 in the world without having a lot of skill," Leishman told AAP.
"I know it's hard to back up a win and I don't want to have a golf hangover, so I'll have to bring my best golf."
Leishman said he would draw inspiration from his strong record in Presidents Cup match play singles, where he's defeated superstar Jordan Spieth in 2015 and Matt Kuchar in 2013.
He's also buoyed by the fact he hit an impressive 73 per cent of fairways during his one-shot win at Bay Hill and is now ranked No.2 on the US PGA Tour for strokes gained in putting.
"Driving and putting are crucial going in to a match play tournament because good tee shots help you start each hole well and putting either wins or keeps you in matches," Leishman said.
Leishman has mixed results during the past two years at the WGC- Match Play; no wins ensured he didn't make it out of the pool in 2016 while he topped his group in 2015 but lost in the first knockout round.
In other high-profile matches on the opening day of the WGC Match Play, world No.1 Dustin Johnson faces fellow American and former US Open winner Webb Simpson.
World No.2 Rory McIlroy, winner of the 2015 match play, will face Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen, who teamed up with countryman Thorbjorn Olesen to win the World Cup golf in Melbourne in November.
World No.4 Hideki Matsuyama tees off against 2018 US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk while Texan native and world No.6 Jordan Spieth is up against Japan's Hideto Tanihara.
