By Vince Rugari
Defending Australian PGA champion Greg Chalmers says he can't put his finger on what's gone wrong in an underwhelming 2015 season.
Chalmers, who won last year's tournament in an epic seven-hole, three-way play-off against Adam Scott and Wade Ormsby, will attempt to claim a third Australian PGA Championship title at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast from Thursday.
After his thrilling victory last year, Chalmers - also a two-time Australian Open champion - spoke of how he needed to take his form at home over to the US PGA Tour.
He is yet to break through for a tournament win on that tour after 381 tournaments and 14 full seasons. This year his best result was a tie for 26th from 19 starts.
Shooting for some form: Greg Chalmers is looking to defend his Australian PGA title at Royal Pines.Credit: Getty Images
The 42-year-old left-hander says it's not for a lack of trying. "Why haven't I played well in the US this year? That's a great question," Chalmers said.
"It's hard to change the stripes on a leopard, isn't it. Is it effort? I've hit the ball nicely this year. My last great putting round was probably this one a year ago.
"It's the little things in golf that stack up. It's a chip or a putt you don't make and all of a sudden you're one over instead of even and you're going in the wrong direction."
Chalmers admitted he is coming in off a "rough" week after missing the cut at the Australian Open, but feels good about his overall game and is looking forward to defending a title he's won twice before.
"I don't get to defend very much. I haven't won enough to call it normal, but it's nice to come back to an event that's special," he said.
"I didn't play very well [at the Open] but I've played a lot of golf the last couple of months so it was nice just to have a timely weekend off - I hate to say that."
Chalmers also likes the look of the remodelled Royal Pines course, which includes an entirely new back nine and will make it tougher for power players.
"The greens have got a lot of bumps and run-offs in them, it's going to make it very tricky," he said.
"It's going to put a lot of pressure on driving and iron shots. I wouldn't like to play that 18th hole seven times now. It's very difficult."
AAP