Smylie, Herbert playing for keeps at NZ Open

It's quite the bounty.

Courtesy of his career-changing WA Open and Australian PGA wins late last year, the 22-year-old Smylie leads the OOM with 1247.56 points.

He also now boasts a full two-year exemption on the DP World Tour.

Cameron Smith is in second spot on 735.68 points but he is absent this week, largely because he has a guaranteed start at all four majors courtesy of his 2022 British Open triumph.

Fellow LIV Golf star Herbert leads the chasing pack on 717.06 points, with 760 on offer to the winner of the $A1.8 million NZ Open.

Smylie can effectively decide the OOM race - with three smaller Australasian Tour events still to play - if he finishes fourth or better, even if Herbert salutes at Millbrook.

"There's not much I can do about Elvis this week - if he plays well he's probably going to put the Order of Merit too far away for any of us to catch," the 29-year-old Herbert told reporters on Tuesday.

But he was still excited by the challenge of having so many different things to play for at the same tournament.

"It's probably what makes the game really enjoyable at this level, having all that noise going on around you and still feeling like you're trying to lock in and focus on the things you need to focus on at that exact moment," said Herbert.

"There's certainly a lot going on this week and to be honest it's a week I've looked forward to because I knew this challenge would come up."

Herbert has also been busy off the course after proposing to his now-fiancee Erica last week.

"We're probably at the point in the relationship where if I'd asked her to go to Fiji for a holiday for three days without a golf tournament it would have looked very suspicious so I thought Queenstown was a good one to sneak it in," he quipped.

Smylie got his first taste of the majors last year after qualifying for the British Open at a time when he was without an international tour card.

It left him hungry for more and comfortable in his role as the hunted this week.

"Winning the Order of Merit would mean everything," he said on Tuesday.

"From last October that was my goal, to win the Order of Merit and the accolades that come with that ... two out of the four majors and potentially more.

"It's a dream of mine to play majors, it's a dream of mine to compete against the best players in the world and see where my game adds up.

"I've got to keep playing well and keep giving myself opportunities."

In the unlikely event that Smylie missed the halfway cut at Millbrook Resort and Herbert also finished well back, the likes of fellow Australians Jack Buchanan, Curtis Luck and Anthony Quayle could also vault to top spot on the OOM if they won the NZ Open.

Were that to happen, Smylie still has the option to enter the season-ending National Tournament in the last week of March and regain top spot.

The winner of the 104th NZ Open on Sunday will get a guaranteed start in the British Open for the first time.