Harold Varner III is excited by the prospect of defending a title for the first time at this week's Australian PGA Championship.
The American lost out in a play-off to Nathan Holman in his first appearance at RACV Royal Pines Resort in the 2016 season but came back stronger, with a closing 65 sealing him a maiden European Tour win 12 months ago.
A personal tragedy off the course contributed heavily to the rest of the 2017 season not going as Varner would have liked but he is looking to start 2018 afresh on a happy hunting ground.
"I was thinking about the first time I came here and how I didn't know anyone, didn't know where to hit it," he said. "Now I feel like I have an idea what to do and how different the course has matured the last three years because the first time I played it, that was the first time they opened the course since the redesign.
"I think I just played really well, so just excited for the challenge and just ready to compete.
"I hadn't won on any Tour before this event so I didn't really change as much as I thought. I felt really bad the next day, super hungover obviously, but it was just a great experience just knowing that you can win.
"I think everyone needs confirmation that they can do it because I think everyone can win but doing it's a different thing. I think it's helped me the last couple of weeks just knowing that I can win when I need to.
"Starting to play well again and hopefully we can rekindle some of the flame from last year."
Shortly after Varner's victory on the Gold Coast, his girlfriend Amanda's brother Elliott sadly passed away and the 27 year old admits it had a bigger effect on him than he was expecting.
"Literally right after the tournament, I flew back on Monday and my girlfriend lost her brother on Thursday or Friday," he said. "I didn't think much of it, I just thought, 'yeah, you know, it's sad but things will get better'. Just didn't get better as fast as you'd think.
"It happens and I didn't do a good job of controlling it. I probably shouldn't have played a little bit, just take some time off, but I didn't.
"But it happens, you know? Everyone in this life is going to go through something like that and how you handle it is what makes the difference."
Starting to play well again and hopefully we can rekindle some of the flame from last year - Harold Varner III
A tie for 50th in an elite field at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August represented a respectable return to form and after a good run on the US PGA Tour, Varner is hopeful of getting back to his best.
"I know I need to play well," he said. "The course sets up pretty well for me, obviously. I've played well here so I just need to keep doing what I've been doing and that's compete.
"I just want to have a chance to win with nine holes to go, that's what you want to do every tournament and I've been fortunate enough to do that the last two years and you can't really live in the past. It's a new year, a new me and I feel like I have another great opportunity.
"I think I have a lot of confidence because I'm starting to play well. Like it doesn't matter what course I play, I feel like something good's going to happen. I played well the last day in Hong Kong and drove it better, found some stuff. Just working at it, that's the stuff I enjoy and to see the result off the tee is great.
"I just need to get back to what I was doing, I feel like I'm doing it now. I'm playing really solid, just haven't driven it really well the last six months. So to play that well and drive it that bad, I'm actually really excited because I know that eventually I'm going to drive it well, it's just a matter of time."
