A near family tragedy behind him, Marc Leishman will dedicate the Claret Jug to his new "miracle baby" after celebrating the birth of his first daughter in the countdown to this week's British Open.
Two years after his wife Audrey was told she had a five per cent chance of survival as her body almost shut down with toxic shock syndrome, Leishman has arrived at Royal Birkdale at the happiest time in his life.
The Leishmans welcomed baby Eva into the world on July 6, giving the couple's two sons a sister.
"I didn't think we would have more kids. Two years ago I didn't think I'd have a wife," Leishman said ahead of his first round on Thursday.
"Audrey's done really well to get back to where she is. Now we've got a little girl we call our miracle baby."
Bliss on the home front has led to Leishman producing some of his career-best work on the course too in 2017.
He won the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational and has backed that up with a series of top-30 finishes on the US Tour, and enters the Open after an equal fifth at the Quicken Loans National earlier this month.
"I think whenever you're happy off the course, that's a good place for your golf," Leishman said.
"I've been pretty happy all year, especially this year, and even last year but there were still some little things to worry about with Audrey's health.
"But now she is pretty much in the clear."
The world No.34's relaxed state is a far cry from 2015 when, despite the family turmoil, he came within a putt on the 72nd hole of pulling off an emotion-charged triumph at St Andrews.
With a carefree "golf doesn't matter" approach as he stressed about his wife's ordeal, Leishman produced weekend rounds of 64 and 66 to force his way into a playoff.
While he ultimately came up short against American Zach Johnson, the Victorian took great confidence from his performance.
"As far as starting that Open and starting this one, I feel like my game is in a better spot," said Leishman, who also boasts a tied fifth in 2014 at nearby Royal Liverpool.
"That Open taught me that you have to manage everything well to get into contention.
"If you get a tough side of the draw, you need to put your game in damage control, you don't really want to let it get away from you if you can help it.
"Obviously that was a great week for me, could have been an awesome week. It would be nice to go that one step further and play like I did at St Andrews and walk away with the Claret Jug."
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