Smith eyes Chicago for entree to majors

With a start in each of the four majors in 2018 on the line, Cameron Smith is eager to turn around his form at the BMW Championship in Chicago this week.

Starting the US PGA Tour's $US67 million play-offs in 40th place courtesy of a tie for seventh at the regular season-ending Wyndham Championship in August, Smith has fizzled with missed cuts at the opening two events.

Now sitting at 56th on the standings in his play-offs debut, the 24-year-old Brisbane native knows it's do-or-die at Chicago's Conway Farms Golf Club if he wants to advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta next week.

Each player in the 30-man Tour Championship field is guaranteed a start at the four majors the following year and Smith is desperate to bag one of golf's hottest tickets.

"That was one of my goals at the start of the year; to get into the Tour Championship and make it a lot easier on myself to play the majors next year," Smith told AAP.

Smith, who won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Zurich Classic teams event in New Orleans earlier in 2017, has never played all four majors in the same year.

His debut on golf's biggest stage yielded an impressive tie for fourth at the 2015 US Open. So it's easy to see why Smith is also eager to bag a second trip to the Masters at Augusta.

"The four majors are something every professional golfer wants to play in, every year," said Smith.

"The biggest one for me is Augusta National; I love the Masters. Playing there in 2016 was a childhood dream come true."

Sitting almost 400 points outside the top-30 on the FedEx standings, Smith will need at least a top-five result at the BMW Championship.

"Yeah, I really need to play well this week," said Smith.

"The game hasn't been in the shape I'd like these last couple weeks. But I've had a few good rounds at TPC Sawgrass, where I play and practice at home in Florida, and the game is feeling much better.

"Conway Farms suits my game well because it's not terribly long and you have to hit it straight."