Saturday, 6 January 2018: Australia's Cameron Smith will start the third round of the US PGA Tour's Tournament of Champions in Hawaii nine shots behind countryman Marc Leishman.

Cameron Smith admits it may take a miracle to chase down fellow Australian and Tournament of Champions co-leader Marc Leishman but he's promised to give it his best crack.

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The 24-year-old Queenslander clawed back after a sloppy opening 75 at Kapalua's Plantation course on Maui, firing a three-under-par 70 on day two to lift his total to one-under the card and take a share of 24th.

Still, in his first visit to the no-cut event for winners from the previous US PGA Tour season, Smith finds himself a distant nine shots behind Leishman after 36 holes.

The world No.12 maintained his overnight lead with a bogey-free 69 to join playing partner Brian Harman (68) at the top of the leaderboard at 10 under.

World No.1 Dustin Johnson fired a 68 to lurk in outright third, one shot back, while Jhonattan Vegas (70), Pat Perez and Chris Stroud (both 66) share fourth at eight under.

Feeling good after notching his first win on home soil at the Australian PGA Championship last month, Smith has given himself a green light to attempt a birdie blitz over the closing two rounds.

"It looks like I need to go after it pretty hard over the weekend. I've left myself out of the tournament a little bit but if I have a good weekend I can still do myself the world of good," said Smith.

"Being aggressive was my plan off the tee today after starting poorly and I'll stay that way over the weekend.

"The swing feels really good and, mentally, I feel strong."