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Adam Scott says his dramatic come-from-behind victory at the 2013 Barclays tournament taught him to never give up on Sunday at a FedEx Cup playoffs opener.

It is why the Queenslander isn't worried about his six-shot deficit going into the final round at the tournament now called The Northern Trust.

Scott battled a mid-round meltdown on day three to post a one-under-par 70 and at 10 under he will begin Sunday six back of leader Bryson DeChambeau.

The American took the 54-hole honours at 16 under with a sensational 63.

He left Keegan Bradley in his wake four shots back - despite his 62 equalling the Ridgewood Country Club's course record.

But Scott is confident of repeating his efforts of five years ago at nearby Liberty National golf course, when he began the final day six shots adrift of 54-hole leader Matt Kuchar.

Scott fired a final-round 66 to steal a one-shot win over four players including Tiger Woods.

"No, you're never out of it. Six back, it's possible to shoot (a low score) tomorrow and pass these guys; I've done it before in this tournament," he said.

On Saturday, Scott was just one shot off the pace when he spectacularly dropped four shots in three holes, with two bogeys at the ninth and 10th preceding a disastrous double-bogey at the par-3 11th.

"I really switched off there; made a mess of things around the turn and I could have shot myself out of the tournament," Scott said.

But three late birdies gave Scott an outside chance at victory on Sunday.

"The fightback was huge in the scheme of things; in this tournament and the (FedEx Cup) playoffs, I need (FedEx) points and I'd like to take advantage of my good play this week," Scott said.

"I'd like to basically lock up (the Tour Championship finale) tomorrow and leave myself with less work to do over the second and third events."

The Northern Trust is the first of four tournaments which comprise the $US67 million ($A91 million) FedEx Cup playoffs.

Cameron Smith says the hunger for his second US PGA Tour victory will drive his quest to chase down a five-shot deficit in the final round at the PGA Tour's Northern Trust tournament.

The 25-year-old fired himself into contention with a hot third round at the FedEx Cup play-offs opener in New Jersey; a six-under-par 65 elevating Smith to 11 under.

American Bryson DeChambeau took the 54-hole lead at 16 under with a sensational 63, leaving countryman Keegan Bradley in his wake four shots back - despite Bradley's 62 equalling the Ridgewood Country Club's course record.

Almost 18 months since breaking through at the 2017 Zurich Classic, Smith's recent chances at getting off the lone victory mark on the US tour include a top-five finish at this year's Masters.

The Queenslander has battled a poor patch since the April major and admits his winless drought in America has become frustrating.

"Absolutely; it's been a while now," Smith said.

Smith has compiled a solid US Tour season, including five top-10 results but hasn't sniffed a victory chance since Augusta National.

He also won the Australian PGA Championship in December.

"I've been trying but nothing's really been happening; it's been a tough last couple few months and it'd be nice to tick one off," Smith said.

Smith will play in the penultimate group on Sunday with Tony Finau and acknowledged there is plenty to play for aside from winning the first tournament of the $67 million ($A91 million) FedEx Cup finals series.

World No.49 Smith is the third-highest Australian on the rankings but is determined to play his way into the two-man team for the golf World Cup in Melbourne in November.

On Tuesday, world No.44 Adam Scott joked Smith "better play well" if he wanted to usurp Scott as the second-highest Australian.

"Scotty kind of revved me up the other day saying I'd better play well if I want to get on that team," Smith said.

Scott finished one shot back of Smith at 10 under after a gutsy fightback from a mid-round meltdown, when he dropped four shots in three holes.

But three late birdies helped Scott shoot 70 and he will start Sunday an outside chance, six shots adrift of DeChambeau.

"I really switched off and made a mess of things around the turn but I'm not out of it completely; I can shoot a low one with the way I've played all week," Scott said.

Jason Day's 68 left him a distant eight shots off the pace at eight under, while fellow Australian Marc Leishman (70) is one under.

Adam Scott admits he feels on the cusp of a comeback from the doldrums after playing his way into weekend contention at the US PGA Tour's Northern Trust tournament in New Jersey.

In his first start since finishing third at the US PGA Championship, Scott sits just one shot off the lead after two rounds at the first event of the $US67 million FedEx Cup playoffs series.

Scott fired the lowest round on day two at the Northern Trust, a seven-under-par 65 which catapulted him to a nine-under total.

Brooks Koepka (65), who beat Scott and Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship, tops the leaderboard at 10 under alongside Jamie Lovemark (66).

The American duo will play in the final group on day three in New Jersey.

Scott, who won this event at nearby Liberty National in 2013, will play in the penultimate pair on Saturday with world No.1 Dustin Johnson.

Without a win in more than two years, a resurgent Scott says he is playing well enough that contenting at every tournament feels a fait accompli.

"Yeah, very much," a defiant Scott said on Friday.

"There's a lot more freedom and it's probably as much in the head as physically.

"At the PGA Championship, it felt like (having a chance to win) is where I'm meant to be and I played really well in that situation."

Scott believes he is seeing regular flashes of his former world No.1 self, particularly a gutsy bounceback midway through Friday at the Northern Trust.

After four birdies on the front nine, Scott made a sloppy bogey at the 10th, then left himself with a difficult greenside bunker shot at the 11th but made a miraculous par save.

At the driveable par-4 12th, a poor tee shot left him with a near-impossible pitch out of the rough but Scott had the crowds roaring when he lobbed it high over a bunker to six feet and drained the tricky birdie putt.

"It was one of those shot that turns the day around and it reminds you you're playing well and this is a buzz," Scott said.

"Those moments were what I'd been waiting for all year, so it felt good I was able to pull it off."

Fellow Australian Jason Day bounced back from a lacklustre first round of even par 71 with a 66 on Friday, surging to five-under the card.

Fellow Queenslander Cameron Smith joins Day at five under having posted a 68, while Marc Leishman also shot 68 to make the even-par cut line on the number.

John Daly matched the course record with an eight-under 64 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Czech Masters.

The 52-year-old Daly was tied with European Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Pieters of Belgium, Callum Tarren of England and Gavin Green of Malaysia.

Fighting a knee injury that forced him to withdraw after two rounds last week in the PGA Tour Champions' event in New York, Daly had eight birdies in the bogey-free round at Albatross Golf Resort.

"It was fun," Daly said. "I hit a lot of good shots and make a few putts. ... I drove the ball really well.

"There were so many pins that were perfect yardages for me - comfortable shots all day long."

The two-time major champion won the last of his five PGA Tour titles in 2004. He won a Champions event last year in Houston.

Adam Scott was so charged after his vintage performance at the US PGA Championship he nearly entered a tournament before this week's FedEx Cup playoffs opener.

Scott avoided temptation, but picked up exactly where he left off with a solid opening round at the Northern Trust in New Jersey - the first tournament of the $US67 million finals series.

Scott and fellow Queenslander Cameron Smith posted a two-under-par 69 at Ridgewood Country Club to sit three shots adrift of first-round leaders Kevin Tway, Jamie Lovemark, Vaughn Taylor and Sean O'Hair (66).

One shot back in a share of fifth at four under is a logjam of players including world No.1 Dustin Johnson, US Open champion Brooks Koepka and Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama (all 67).

Scott played in the final group at the PGA Championship two weeks ago with eventual winner Brooks Koepka and shared the lead with him late on the back nine on Sunday.

"It was great to play good on that Sunday, but to also feel comfortable with the pressure of having a chance to win a major," Scott said.

Although he settled for third at the PGA, Scott says it worked wonders on his confidence in time for the four-tournament post-season.

He almost entered last week's regular season-ending Wyndham Championship in a bid to end his two-and-a-half year winless drought, but decided to rest.

"Getting a taste of it made me a bit hungrier," Scott said.

"I had to weigh up whether to play Wyndham and force it a little; try take advantage of it but I had to look at the bigger picture with the FedEx Cup and a lot of golf coming up.

"I'm hoping to take it into this week and so far it looks like I have; teeing off today I felt probably the most confident I have all year."

Although Smith laid the sod over an easy chip shot at the par-5 17th and made bogey, the world No.49 bounced back with an early birdie on the back side.

"I drove it really good and actually felt I played really well, except for that chip I duffed on 17," Smith said.

Jason Day, the 2015 winner of this event, inexplicably missed a one-metre birdie putt on the par-5 17th and then bogeyed the last - signing for a 71 to sit even with the card.

Marc Leishman rounds out the Australian contingent but struggled while grouped with 14-time major winner Tiger Woods.

Leishman carded a two-over 73, while Woods scrapped around the narrow fairways and thick rough at Ridgewood during a 71.

Australia's US PGA Tour stars say they are open to participating in a domestic high-stakes exhibition match similar to the Las Vegas showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

On Wednesday, Woods and Mickelson confirmed their rumoured, winner-takes-all $US9 million ($A12 million) match is set for Friday, November 23 at Shadow Creek golf course in Vegas.

Woods' made-for-television spectacle has revived interest in the lost tradition of exhibition golf and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott has no doubt something similar could work in Australia, on a smaller scale.

"I think anyone would enjoy seeing a head-to-head match back home," Scott told AAP at the US PGA Tour's Northern Trust in New Jersey.

Undoubtedly, fans would want to see Scott and fellow former world No.1 Jason Day face off and Scott welcomed an 18-hole match between the pair.

"Yeah, I think it'd all be in good fun," Scott said.

"It does a lot of good for the game, even if it's just for a very small audience.

"I'd like to think there is room for exhibition golf; it's something the tour down there should maybe look at trying to do."

US Tour winner Cameron Smith was also fond of the idea, particularly if the top four Australians on the world rankings - currently Day, Marc Leishman, Scott and himself - competed in a two-round elimination match on an iconic Australian course.

"I think it's a great idea; absolutely," Smith said.

"Any exposure for golf in Australia at the moment is good.

"If there were three or four of us that were going to do it, I think it'd be awesome and you could do it all in one day."

Exhibition golf - pitting the sport's biggest names against each other in unofficial tournaments - enjoyed a hot period from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

It was launched by Shell's Wonderful World of Golf series by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and even saw the late Australian Peter Thomson take on Player at Royal Melbourne in 1962.

An annual four-player skins game also became wildly popular on American Thanksgiving day but has not been played since 2008.

An Australian criticism of Woods' November clash with Mickelson is that it falls during the third round of the US Tour's golf World Cup in Melbourne.

It is unclear if and how Australians will be able to access the pay-per-view match in Vegas, but that is scheduled to finish after midday AEDT on Saturday, November 24 - before broadcast coverage of the third day of the World Cup would start.

"We're going to have fun showcasing golf on different platforms," 14-time major winner Woods said in New Jersey.

"It's something that's never been done before; having it on pay-per-view."

Golf greats Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have confirmed their $9 million ($A12 million) winner-takes-all match will take place in Las Vegas in November in a made-for-television showdown.

With 19 major championship wins between them, the duo will battle it out in an 18-hole, head-to-head match at Shadow Creek golf course in Las Vegas on November 23.

Woods and Mickelson endured a 20-year feud on the US PGA Tour which has only settled now the duo are at the tail-end of their stellar careers.

With Woods ahead in major titles (14 to five) and career US Tour victories (79 to 43), Mickelson says the clash dubbed 'The Match' is an opportunity to get one up on his rival.

"For many years, he's gotten the better of me but that Friday night it's going to be the easiest 10 mil I've ever made,'' Mickelson joked at the Northern Trust in New Jersey on Wednesday.

The hyped match will be broadcast on pay-per-view television in the US, via WarnerMedia's Turner division and telecommunications giant AT&T.

The 48-year-old Mickelson says he and Woods, as well as their caddies, will be wired for sound, while the duo will also arrange side bets during the match - involving closest to the pin, long drive, chipping and putting.

"It's an opportunity for us to bring golf to the masses in prime time during a period where we don't have much going on in the world of golf,'' Mickelson said.

"It allows us to be a little bit more real, if you will.

"We're going to be mic'd up.

"We think there will be some pretty good interest but we're also trying to present it in a way that you don't get to see with normal TV."

Woods has won more than $US113 million ($A153 million) in prize money on the PGA Tour in comparison to Mickelson's near $US88 million ($A120 million) during their respective careers.

Adam Scott has thrown down the gauntlet to fellow Queenslander Cameron Smith as the duo battle for a spot on Australia's golf World Cup team.

A subplot has emerged among the four Australians contesting the US PGA Tour's $US67 million play-offs series, with the two-man Australian team to contest the World Cup in Melbourne in November still to be locked in.

The World Cup will be held at Metropolitan Golf Club from November 22-25, featuring two players from the top-28 nations in the world rankings.

Each nation's top-ranked golfer has between September 3 and 13 to accept or defer their selection.

World No.10 Jason Day currently tops the Australian list but is uncertain on returning to his homeland given wife Ellie is due to give birth to the couple's third child days before the Cup.

If Day was to defer, world No.18 Leishman would be the frontrunner with Scott (44th) the next best, followed by Smith (49th).

Scott, who selected Leishman for the 2016 Cup at Kingston Heath, laid down the marker ahead of the Northern Trust tournament - the first of the four FedEx Cup play-offs events.

"Cam is going to have to play good in the play-offs; he better be up for it," a tongue-in-cheek Scott joked on Wednesday.

Scott asserted his credentials, referencing his runner-up finish at the 2014 Australian Masters at Metropolitan and the fact he won the 2013 World Cup teams title with Day.

"In all seriousness, 'Leish' can pick whomever he wants but I do have a good record at Metropolitan," said Scott, who only jumped Smith recently on the rankings with a third placing at the US PGA Championship.

The 25-year-old Smith has never played in golf's World Cup and is desperate to represent Australia at the unofficial US Tour event.

"I saw that Scotty jumped ahead of me on the world rankings, but I want to try and get there myself," Smith said.

"If I can put three good play-offs events together hopefully (the top Australian) will notice."

Leishman admits it will be a good headache for Australian fans, but not himself, if he becomes the top eligible player.

"It would be a hard decision either way, as (Scott and Smith) are both good mates, obviously 'Scotty' picked me in the World Cup last time," Leishman said.

"It is certainly up for grabs, so it'd be nice if one of them played well enough that it was a clear decision.

"I would gladly take either of them and that choice is good for golf in Australia."

Australian Jason Day has an axe to grind at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey.

The last time he played the course in the 2014 FedEx Cup finals opener, he squandered the 54-hole lead and an opportunity to force a playoff on the 72nd hole as Hunter Mahan stormed to victory.

"I remember hitting right off the tee into the trees on the last hole when I had to make birdie to tie Mahan, and I didn't have a (clear) shot so had to chip out ... it was disappointing," Day told AAP on Wednesday.

Day settled for a share of second place with fellow Australian Stuart Appleby.

Although he won the event the following year, Queenslander Day admits there is some unfinished business at Ridgewood CC.

"Definitely; I know can contend here," Day said ahead of the Northern Trust, which starts Thursday.

"It's an old school New Jersey course; there are big tall trees with rough that I feel comfortable playing out of, the bunkers have nice sand and around the greens is severe so you have to have great touch.

"That's usually my game; I hit it long and I have pretty good short game and I'm hoping with that formula it sets up well for me."

The 30-year-old has a stellar record in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener, with his 2015 win among five top-10 finishes and nine top-25s from 10 appearances.

"I play pretty damn good in the playoffs," Day admitted.

But even with two wins on the US PGA Tour this year, Day refuses to rest on his laurels given the elite 125-player field are all desperate to get off to flying starts.

"If you get off to a good start, you basically guarantee yourself to go to the Tour Championship with a decent ranking which takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders for the second and third events," Day said.

Day will tee off at Northern Trust with a FedEx Cup rank of sixth, looking to move into the top-five seeds after three events as they can guarantee the $US10 million FedEx Cup bonus with a victory at the Tour Championship finale in late September.

Jason Day says it's irrelevant that Australia has its smallest-ever contingent in the US PGA Tour playoffs because all are capable of taking out the $US10 million FedExCup prize.

The quartet of Day, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith is the fewest for Australia since the four-event playoffs series was created in 2007.

But, ranked sixth on the points standings, Day has again given himself a red-hot chance at becoming the first Australian to claim the FedEx Cup crown

Former world No.1 Day tees off at this week's Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, buoyed by an astonishingly consistent record at the playoffs opener.

The Queenslander won the 2015 event at nearby Plainfield Country Club and his 10 appearances have yielded five top-six finishes and nine top-25s.

With two US tour victories this year, Day is confident of launching another post-season challenge this week.

"I guess I have always arrived at this event knowing you need to get off to a good start and you have to focus because it's 125 of the best players on the PGA Tour," Day told AAP.

Day is already all but assured of advancing to the playoffs finale; the 30-man Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

If he can move into the top-five seeds for the finale, he can guarantee the FedEx title if he wins at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club.

"It's crucial to play well this week and propel myself into the top five and then I control my own destiny," Day said.

He was unperturbed by the small number of countrymen who also qualified for the post-season

"Four Australians, I don't think there is anything to it," he said.

"It's a cyclical thing and this year you have four great players so it's quality over quantity I guess."

Next best of the Australians on the FedEx standings at 22nd is Marc Leishman, who has been paired with two-time FedEx Cup champion Tiger Woods for the first two rounds.

He believes that can help improve his dismal record at the Northern Trust, having made the cut just three times in nine appearances.

"It definitely helps to focus when the crowds are massive, which you get playing with Tiger," Leishman said.

Smith, 53rd on the standings, made his playoffs debut last year but missed the cut at the Northern Trust and failed to progress to the Tour Championship.

Smith acknowledged there was a lot a stake, given a Tour Championship start guarantees starts at all four major championships next year.

"It's a massive month for me and it all starts here; I really need to play well and get myself to Atlanta," Smith said.

Coming off his third placing at the PGA Championship, Scott sits 73rd on the FedEx standings and won the 2013 playoffs opener at nearby Liberty National.