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No traffic in San Francisco and no fans at a major championship. Marc Leishman admits the 2020 US PGA championship will be "weird" but says his hunger to break through the major championship barrier is still as strong.

Despite struggling without crowds at US PGA Tour events since the circuit resumed from a 90-day suspension, Leishman is in the middle of a great season.

He won the US PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open in January and finished second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

The world No.19 is determined to take the next step by winning a maiden major title and feels San Francisco's TPC Harding Park is where he could pull it off.

"San Francisco is such a cool city and it's going to be very different because it's pretty much in lockdown; there will be no traffic, which will be weird," Leishman told AAP.

"Playing a major with no atmosphere will be another challenge in itself, but I'm ready to embrace that and hopefully I can get it done."

The five-time US PGA Tour winner will be joined this week by countrymen Adam Scott, 2015 champion Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert.

Leishman is looking at the bright side of an unprecedented fan-less major; there will be no relief for wayward drives in Harding Park's thick rough.

"Normally, if you hit it outside the ropes you can catch a good lie because the crowds trample down the rough, so you'll have to be driving it really straight," he said.

Leishman's best finish at a major is a tie for second when he lost in a playoff at the 2015 British Open at St Andrews.

But his record at the PGA Championship - regarded as the major fit for long, straight hitters - has only amounted to a tie for 12th at the 2013 edition.

But TPC Harding Park, a San Francisco public course, has plenty of dog-leg holes and overhanging trees that require golfers to shape the ball both ways.

The 36-year-old Warrnambool native feels comfortable doing that and is why he made the elimination rounds of the 2015 World Golf Championships-Match Play event there.

"As far as the PGA goes, this probably my best opportunity to win one because generally the event doesn't set up great for me. But Harding Park should be a different story," he said.

As for winning a maiden major with no galleries, it won't bother Leishman.

"You wouldn't want to win your first one without crowds if you had the choice, but I'll take it any way I can get it," he said.

A super-confident Brooks Koepka says he's ironed out the kinks that hindered his game earlier this year and believes he will claim a third consecutive PGA Championship this week if he plays at the level he is capable of.

Koepka would become the only player to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy three years in a row since the tournament switched from being a matchplay event to stroke play in 1958.

Walter Hagen won the tournament four consecutive times between 1924-1927.

"I feel very confident in myself," he told reporters at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

"I don't put any expectations on myself. Just go out and play golf exactly like I know how and, if I do that, then yeah I probably should win."

In the weeks leading up to the tournament few gave the 30-year-old much of a chance as he struggled with left knee soreness after the PGA Tour resumed in mid-June.

But the American came alive in Memphis last week to finish tied for second place.

The four-time major winner and former world No.1 said he was more comfortable playing on the sport's biggest stages because he thrives under pressure.

"The way the golf course sets up eliminates pretty much half the guys, and then from there half of those guys probably won't play well," he said.

"Then from there I feel like mentally I can beat them, the other half, so you've probably got 10 guys. That's the way I see it."

Koepka said he cannot wait to attack TPC Harding Park, where the thick rough and narrow fairways reward accuracy off the tee.

"I'm excited. This is a big-boy golf course. Got to hit it straight and put it in the fairway. It's going to be quite long," he said of the 7,251 yard par-70 municipal layout, which is expected to experience cooler temperatures this week.

"I think it kind of plays into my hands."

Koepka will be grouped with last year's US Open champion Gary Woodland and the 2019 British Open winner Irishman Shane Lowry on Thursday and Friday at the first major of the year, which is being played without fans due to coronavirus.

Tiger Woods is vowing not to waste another chance at major championship glory after partying too hard following last year's emotional Masters triumph.

Woods says his Masters hangover that included a trip to the White House was to blame for a poor showing at last year's US PGA Championship.

The former world No.1 admits the celebrations for his stirring comeback victory at Augusta National - his 15th major title - lasted more than a month.

By the time he arrived at New York's Bethpage course for the 2019 PGA, he was gassed and missed the cut.

"I celebrated winning the Masters for quite some time," Woods said at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park.

"It was a bit of a whirlwind; we got a chance to go to the White House, my family, and meet with our President (Donald Trump).

"I came to Bethpage and played awful."

But Woods says this year is different, and not just because COVID-19 forced officials to cancel the British Open and move the PGA to August, the US Open to September and the Masters to November. The first two majors will be conducted without fans.

"My game is better than it was going into that PGA (last year) and hopefully I can put it together this week."

There are plenty of reasons to doubt Woods can win a 16th major this week and move to within two of Jack Nicklaus' record tally of 18.

Woods has played just one US PGA Tour event since the circuit resumed in June following a 90-day suspension due to COVID-19.

But he is confident regular money matches with close friends including defending champion Brooks Koepka and world No.1 Justin Thomas at their home base of Medalist Golf Club in Florida, have been enough to keep the 82-time US PGA Tour winner sharp.

"I've been competing at home and we've been playing for a few dollars," Woods said. "But that's so different than it is out here playing competitively in a tournament environment."

Woods, whose galleries are normally in the thousands, will also have to contest a major championship without fans for the first time in his career.

"Well, that's an unknown; I don't know if anyone in our generation has ever played without fans in a major championship," he said.

"It's going to be very different. But it's still a major championship; it's still the best players in the world."

It's also forecast to be cold, damp and foggy in San Francisco this week, which is not ideal for Woods, who has had four back surgeries.

Still, the 44-year-old insists he is major championship ready.

"This is what I've been gearing up for. We've got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it," he said.

Asked could he win this week, Woods said: "Of course."

Adam Scott admits he considered taking the rest of the year off to remain in Australia but the urge to emulate Greg Norman as a multiple major champion inspired his return to the US.

The 40-year-old will contest the US PGA Championship for the 20th time and is on a mission to fulfil his potential by adding a second major title to his historic 2013 Masters victory at Augusta.

The 156-player PGA Championship starts Friday (AEST) at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park.

Scott headlines an Australian contingent including 2015 PGA champion Jason Day, world No.19 Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert.

Scott escaped to Australia in March and was content with his family on Queensland's Sunshine Coast as COVID-19 ravaged the US. He played regular social rounds and cash games with young professional and amateur golfers.

But Scott couldn't ignore his dream of becoming the first Australian male to win multiple majors since golf great Norman captured his second British Open in 1993.

"I started to miss the butterflies in the stomach you get at a major," Scott told AAP.

The US PGA Tour regular resumed in June with no fans and heavy COVID-19 restrictions. But that didn't tempt Scott.

"There was very little atmosphere; that I haven't missed," he said. "But the chance to win a major championship? I'm wasn't going to skip that.

"The hardest thing in Australia was thinking about majors getting played and I'm not there to try and win."

Scott flew with his wife and two children back to their residence in Switzerland in July, then travelled to the US with his team and set up a bootcamp in South Carolina. He will remain in the US until next month's US Open.

Day was the last Australian male to win a major, at the 2015 PGA. Although he has turned a corner with three straight top 10s on the PGA Tour prior to this week, form suggests Scott is the likeliest Australian to lift a trophy.

He won the Australian PGA Championship in December before claiming a 14th US Tour title at the Tiger Woods-hosted event in Los Angeles in February.

Scott has also contended heavily in four of the past five majors, including a share of the halfway lead at the 2019 Masters and three other top 10s.

"I think I'm in my prime," world No.9 Scott said. "The depth of every facet of my game is coming along with my age. The short game has risen to a level it's never been and my putting performs under pressure."

However, Scott's break means he is arguably the most underdone player of the 156 golfers at the PGA Championship. Even Woods, a four-time PGA champion, managed one US Tour event during its resumption.

Scott will be hard-pressed keeping up with big-hitting former PGA champions who have been playing the US Tour, such as defending champion Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Day.

"Well, I had eight weeks off to start this year and I won at Riviera," Scott said.

"This break has actually been a positive for my career because it has rejuvenated me for another few years.

"I've starved myself of competition. I'm ready to go."

AUSTRALIAN TEE TIMES FOR FRIDAY'S FIRST ROUND (AEST)

12.38am: Jason Day, Martin Kaymer (GER), Jason Dufner (USA)

6.31am: Matt Jones, Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Kevin Streelman (USA)

6.47am: Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler (USA), Bryson DeChambeau (USA)

6.53am: Cameron Smith, Denny McCarthy (USA), Cameron Champ (USA)

7.20am Friday: Marc Leishman, Matt Kuchar (USA), Matt Wallace (ENG)

7.26am: Lucas Herbert, Judd Gibb (USA), Mark Hubbard (USA)

NOTABLES

1.33am: Tiger Woods (USA), Rory McIlroy (IRE), Justin Thomas (USA)

5.11am: Brooks Koepka (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Shane Lowry (IRE)

6.58am: Jon Rahm (ESP), Phil Mickelson (USA), Sergio Garcia (ESP)

Jason Day will tee off in a major championship without a swing coach for the first time in his rollercoaster career but says his past three tournaments have offered hope of collecting an elusive second big title.

The Australian star last week announced he had parted with Colin Swatton, the swing guru who first met a prodigious Day at a Queensland boarding school during his early teens.

Swatton helped Day become a dominant world No.1 and winner of the 2015 US PGA Championship while he also doubled as Day's caddie until 2017.

But 32-year-old Day will monitor his own swing while contesting this week's US PGA Championship at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park - the first major of a golf season flattened by the coronavirus.

Tiger Woods is the most notable elite golfer without a fulltime coach and Day seems comfortable on his own, having finished in the top 10 in his three events leading into the PGA Championship.

It is the first time Day has recorded three consecutive top-10s on the US Tour since 2016, when Day was at the height of his powers.

The Queenslander feels he has turned a corner having not won a tournament since May 2018.

"Yeah, these last three weeks have been very solid," 12-time US Tour winner Day told AAP.

"My game is coming along nicely and now it's time for the majors to start.

"I'm looking forward to this stretch of golf and hopefully picking up my second major."

Splitting with Swatton is a dramatic change ahead of a busy stretch that includes September's US Open and November's Masters at Augusta National.

It follows a series of tweaks Day has made in the past three years.

He has had five caddie changes, notably an unsuccessful stint with Woods' former bagman Steve Williams, while also enduring chronic back injuries.

Williams says Day will be able to handle his own swing but does not know how long that will last.

"As a golf pro, with all the modern technology that's available now, you can have your caddie film your golf swing every day on the range and you can compare it using instruction apps and software like TrackMan," Williams told AAP.

"There comes a point when an elite player feels they don't need a coach and it's not surprising Jason has gone down that road."

Day will be joined by five other Australians at the PGA Championship, including 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott, world No.19 Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and European Tour winner Lucas Herbert.

The 156-player PGA Championship will feature 92 of the world's top 100, headlined by Brooks Koepka, who has won the past two editions.

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth needs a PGA title to complete golf's career grand slam while former champions Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas are among the tournament favourites.

Cameron Smith's long-time coach expects this week's US PGA Championship to kick his student into gear following a horror stretch on the US PGA Tour regular.

Smith opened 2020 with an emotional victory at the US PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii in January while bushfires raged in Australia.

The 26-year-old raised significant money for Australian charities and dedicated his first individual win on the US Tour to victims of the devastating blazes.

But the Queenslander has failed to kick on, missing the cut in five of the nine events since, with his best result a tie for 22nd.

Coach Grant Field attributes the poor stretch to the fact Smith was already drained when the coronavirus shut down the US PGA Tour for 90 days and crippled Smith's momentum.

"Cam hasn't really had a break for two years, so the win in Hawaii was incredible but triggered a deserved rest," Field told AAP.

"The shutdown was an opportunity to take time off but, unfortunately, what comes with that is rust and poor performances.

"If you're competing against the best players in the world you can get caught out if you're not 100 per cent sharp."

However, Sunshine Coast guru Field expects those results to change now the US PGA Championship - starting on Friday (AEST) at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park - launches a rescheduled majors season that includes the US Open in September and the Masters in November.

"History tells us the bigger the stage, the better he is," Field said of Smith, who owns top-five results at the Masters and US Open.

His best result at the PGA Championship is tied 25th on debut in 2015.

"It's at the point of the season where there are three majors and the PGA Tour playoffs crammed into a short period.This is when I expect Cam to fire up," Field said.

To get Florida-based Smith ready for the majors, Field has been putting in extra video lessons given he can't make the usual trips to the US.

"In the off weeks, we do some live sessions via FaceTime where Cam has the headphones in talking to me while he practises and (caddie) Sam Pinfold films his swing," Field said.

Smith will be joined by five other Australians at the PGA Championship, including 2015 winner Jason Day, world No.9 Adam Scott, world No.19 Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and European Tour winner Lucas Herbert.

Accomplished caddie Steve Williams believes the US PGA Championship's lack of atmosphere will be an added challenge for former boss Tiger Woods when he resumes his chase of Jack Nicklaus' record 18 major wins this week.

All eyes will be on Woods, the star attraction at the first major of a golf season ravaged by the coronavirus, when play begins on Friday (AEST) at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park.

COVID-19 restrictions forced officials to cancel July's British Open and to shift the PGA Championship from May to August, the US Open from June to September and the Masters from April to November.

Significantly, fans have been excluded from attending the PGA Championship and US Open, while officials have yet to make a call about crowds at Augusta National.

Four-time PGA Championship winner Woods has played just one tournament since the US PGA Tour resumed from a 90-day shutdown but his usually gigantic galleries won't be there to fire him up.

"When you haven't played a lot of tournament golf and you get to an event with a lot of hype around it like the PGA, the atmosphere is generated by the fans and that can really get your competitive juices flowing," Williams told AAP from his New Zealand home.

Williams, 56, was on the bag for 13 of Woods' 15 major victories, as well as Adam Scott's historic Masters win in 2013.

"Majors have a different feel from regular PGA Tour events; there is a real buzz about them," Williams said.

"With that element missing, for someone who hasn't played a lot of tournament golf this year, it'll be challenging for Tiger to find that spark he needs."

Woods did not contest the 2015 World Golf Championships-Match Play, the last tournament held at the 7200-yard Harding Park layout.

But the 44-year-old has an otherwise exceptional record at the San Francisco public course, having won the 2005 WGC American Express there.

Woods also won all five of his matches at the 2009 Presidents Cup at Harding Park, leading the US team to a dominant victory over the Internationals.

"Back then, Harding Park was a course that required a strict strategy and that was something Tiger was exceptionally disciplined at doing," Williams said.

But a soft and damp Harding Park will be defenceless and Woods will need to blast driver to keep up with big-hitting former PGA Championship winners Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and resurgent Australian Jason Day.

That won't be easy to do with cool temperatures forecast for San Francisco this week presenting an obstacle for Woods, who has had four back surgeries.

However, Williams says Woods will always be a threat at major championships.

"If he is in the tournament he is going to give it 110 per cent; he loves the challenge of trying to win majors and he treats every single major as a significant opportunity to add to his record."

Richy Werenski has holed a flop shot from the 16th fairway for a five-point eagle and birdied the last hole to claim a maiden win on the PGA Tour.

Werenski scored 13 points in the final round of the Barracuda Championship - the lone modified stableford scoring event on the tour - to finish on 39 points and one clear of overnight leader Troy Merritt.

The win at Tahoe Mountain Club's Old Greenwood Course - the first-time venue - was bittersweet for the 28-year-old Werenski who lost a playoff three years when the tournament was played at the Montreux Golf and Country Club.

The win earned Werenski - who started the final round seven points off the lead - a spot next week in this week's PGA Championship in San Francisco.

"I feel like I've been playing well for the last couple months but to get a win, that's huge," Werenski said.

"I've got a couple seconds and everything, so this just helps my confidence a lot.

"Now I know I'm good enough."

Merritt failed to convert the 54-hole lead into a victory for the second-straight year at the stableford event but he will still join Werenski in the field at TPC Harding Park for the year's first major - while both also received spots in the US Open in September at Winged Foot.

Matthias Schwab and Fabian Gomez tied for third with 37 points.

Justin Thomas wants to make his second stint as golf's world No.1 last longer than the first time around.

"I hope so," Thomas said Sunday after winning the St. Jude Invitational to take the top spot for the first time since June 2018.

"I feel like I'm a better player, and I feel like I'm more complete of a golfer now than I was then."

Thomas duelled with defending champion Brooks Koepka down the final holes of the the WGC-St. Jude Invitational but proved the more steady in the closing stages to win by three strokes.

Thomas closed with a five-under 66 at TPC Southwind to finish at 13-under 267 and seal his 13th PGA Tour title.

At 27, he became the third-youngest player since 1960 to win 13 PGA Tour events, trailing only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

"I've been fortunate to have a good career so far but I plan on playing out here for a long time and have a lot of things that I still want to accomplish," Thomas said.

One sign of Thomas' growth was this was the fifth time he rallied to win, and he matched his biggest comeback after starting the day four strokes back of third-round leader Brendon Todd.

Thomas has three wins this season, two since the start of the year.

The last time Thomas was No.1, he spent four weeks at the top of the ranking.

He will supplant Jon Rahm, who became No.1 after winning at Memorial two weeks ago and tied for 52nd in Memphis.

Koepka will go to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco looking to defend his PGA Championship title.

He finished with a 69 and tied for second with Phil Mickelson (67), Daniel Berger (65) and Briton Tom Lewis (66) at 10-under par.

Australian Jason Day (67) was within a shot of the lead late on Sunday but a bogey on his final hole left him at nine-under and a share of sixth.

Day - the 2015 PGA Championship winner - has had three top-10 finishes in a row as his focus shifts to the first major of 2020.

Overnight leader Todd, aiming for a third win this season, faded with a 75 in the final round to slide to tied-15th.

Danielle Kang has played the brand of steady golf that wins on tough courses to secure the title by one stroke at the first LPGA Tour event in more than five months.

World No.4 Kang closed with a two-under 70 on Sunday to finish at seven-under 209.

She held off the challenge of France's Celine Boutier (71) while Australian Minjee Lee (70) was third at four-under for the week.

Lee reeled off three birdies in her final four holes, after dropping one shot on the front nine, to finish in style and leapfrog Yui Kawamoto (72) of Japan and Jodi Ewart Shadoff (75) of England.

The final round at drizzly Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, began with Kang, Boutier, and Britain's Ewart Shadoff all sharing the lead and ended in sunshine with the American on top.

Kang and Boutier turned the final hour into a terrific duel with the Frenchwoman missing a short par putt on the 15th hole to fall one shot behind.

Boutier should have forced a playoff when she nailed her approach to four feet below the hole on the 18th but she made a tentative stroke on a tricky putt and the ball caught the left edge of the cup and spun away.

"I knew where I was standing with three holes left and I wanted to know where I was on the final hole stretch," Kang said.

"You have to respect the golf course and that's what I tried to do even the little putts I didn't take for granted."

Kang won for the fourth time in her career. She has won in each of her last four seasons, starting with the Women's PGA Championship in 2017.

Nelly Korda, at No.2 the highest-ranked player in the field, tied for 40th.