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Adam Scott insists his Australian Open hopes are not up in smoke despite making his worst start to the tournament in nine years.

Scott refused to use the thick blanket of smog hanging over Sydney as an excuse for shooting a 75 at The Australian GC to sit at four-over-par.

The former world No.1 sits a distant 10 shots behind a pair on unheralded amateur leaders, Japan's Takumi Kanaya and Taiwan's Yu Chun-An (65).

Scott's 75 is his worst opening round at the Australian Open since posting the same score to start the 2010 Open at nearby The Lakes GC.

Instead, the 2013 Masters winner at Augusta figures it is competitive rust having not played a tournament since the WGC event in China one month ago.

"I hope so," Scott joked after his round.

A marquee signing for the Open in Sydney before next week's Presidents Cup, Scott's round began ominously with four bogeys on the front nine.

Scott stopped the bleeding with an even-par back nine while he also avoided a birdie-less round - making a 4 on the par-5 18th hole to finish.

Still, Scott's typically flawless swing deserted him at times.

"On the front nine I hit some really bad drives; low left and then I couldn't scramble," he said.

"I got it feeling a little better on the back nine."

But the 13-time US PGA Tour winner is confident of turning it around for Friday's second round on a course he has thrived on in past Opens.

"Oh yeah, absolutely," said Scott, who in his last Open at The Australian finished a shot behind winner Matt Jones (2015).

"I can get off to a good start on the back nine and hopefully, by the end of the day, be in the red figures and start my climb.

"At least now I know where (the ball) is going and I can now chip away at this thing."

Marc Leishman is confident that playing the Australian Open is ideal preparation for International team members of the Presidents Cup despite the move being called in to question.

Six members of the 12-man International side, who will face a Tiger Woods-led American team next week, have teed it up at The Australian GC in Sydney.

Captain Ernie Els and his assistants Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Weir and KJ Choi are the in Open field, too.

But Australian golf great Ian Baker-Finch has suggested the Internationals would be just as well served if they spent this week playing Cup host Royal Melbourne instead.

The Australian GC is an American-style course and vastly different from the links-style conditions of a firm, fast Royal Melbourne.

Former British Open winner-turned commentator Baker Finch told reporters he was "hoping more of them would come to play the Sandbelt early rather than the Australian Open".

However, the backlash would be significant if stars like Leishman or Adam Scott were to skip the Open in favour of practising in Melbourne.

Baker-Finch acknowledged this week's star-studded Open field was good for the event and for Australian golf, but asked whether the Internationals were making use of their home advantage.

World No.27 Leishman said there was merit in Baker-Finch's belief.

But given Leishman hasn't played a tournament in five weeks, the Victorian wanted to be tested under the gun.

"I think any time you can play the (Melbourne) Sandbelt is good preparation because it's such different style of golf," Leishman told AAP after a solid 69 to sit at two-under-par.

"The greens at The Australian are firm, but completely different level to Royal Melbourne.

"I played there on Monday (before coming to Sydney) and it's bouncing hard; some of the shots I hit today that finished close to the hole would have been 40 feet away at Royal Melbourne. It's that different.

"(Playing all week in Melbourne) would have been great preparation but I like to get into the tournament mode; hit shots under the pump.

"There's no right or wrong way to (prepare); I guess it's different strokes for different folks."

Former US Open winner Ogilvy, who carded a one-over 72 on Thursday, agreed that preparation was a matter of preference.

"It depends who you are; some guys can't focus unless there is a tournament on," Ogilvy said.

"Those are the players who like to face must-make six-foot putts, have tough up-and-downs (for par) and must-hit fairways to prepare for a big event.

"They would go down there and have a bit of fun but not get that much out of it.

"Other guys like, Tiger and Scotty (Adam Scott), have been masters at preparing away from a tournament.

"I don't think there's a definitive answer."

Hoping to shoot two-under par at the Australian Open on Friday would ordinarily be a rather modest goal.

But it would be quite a feat for Chad Pfeifer, who'd never hit a golf ball before having his left leg blown off in the Iraq war.

"There were definitely a few times when I got pretty depressed and wanted to commit suicide and it was golf that gave me something to look forward to," Pfeifer told AAP on Thursday.

"So it definitely saved my life."

Twelve years on from that life-changing day while serving in the US Army, Pfiefer is among 12 players teeing off in the second All Abilities Championship in Sydney.

The first amputee veteran to get a start on the web.com tour, the secondary tour in the US, Pfeifer plays off a plus-two handicap and once carded 10-under par around his home club in Idaho.

He and his rivals will hit off from the same tees as Adam Scott and co and don't want any favours from officials.

"Ultimately it will come down to putting," Pfeifer said.

"I think the big difference between us and the (able-bodied) tour players is they're used to putting on greens this quick.

"So it will be who adjusts quicker and best to the green speeds (who wins the all abilities title)."

Pfeifer, 38 and married with three young children, is a remarkable story.

After growing up playing baseball, he laughed when a double amputee, while trying to keep spirits up at an army hopsital in Texas, asked him for a game of golf during his 15-month stint in rehab.

"I reluctantly agreed to go to golf and hit a couple off the sweet spot and absolutely fell in love with it," Pfeifer said.

"I got the golf bug and got hooked and basically after that that's all I wanted to do.

"I'd do my therapy in the morning and just go out and golf in the afternoon."

He's won multiple disabled and amputee tournaments around the world, including in Australia earlier this year.

It was at the Albertsons Boise Open in 2015 that Pfeifer created web.com tour history.

He missed the cut but so too did reigning Australian Open champion Abraham Ancer, whose opening round three-over 74 was only one shot better than Pfeifer's.

Last year's All Abilities Championship winner Johann Kammerstad fired 17-over for the 54 holes around The Lakes.

The Swede is back to defend his title and is one of the favourites along with Pfeifer.

Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland have set the first-round pace at the windswept World Challenge in the Bahamas while tournament host Tiger Woods was six shots back.

Former Masters champion Reed and reigning US Open winner Woodland fired rounds of six-under-par 66 at the Albany Golf Club on the island of New Providence.

They sit two shots clear of Chez Reavie in the 18-man exhibition event.

Englishman Justin Rose, Swede Henrik Stenson and Americans Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler were a further shot back after opening rounds of 69.

Defending champion Jon Rahm of Spain was four shots back of the co-leaders after mixing four birdies with two bogeys.

The tournament began a day earlier than usual to accommodate golfers travelling to next week's Presidents Cup in Australia.

The field included all but one member of the 12-player US team that will compete at Royal Melbourne - with Dustin Johnson skipping the week as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

Woods, the playing captain at the Presidents Cup, reached the turn at two over par but made three birdies and an eagle over a five-hole stretch starting at the 11th to claw back up the leaderboard.

However, he endured a brutal finish to drop three shots in two holes and finish the day in a share of 11th

The world No.7 made bogey at the par-three 17th after he found the front bunker and closed with a three-putt double-bogey from about 12 feet for an even-par 72.

Woodland mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to grab the early clubhouse lead but Reed, playing two groups behind, offset his only bogey with four consecutive birdies from the 13th to join his American compatriot atop the leaderboard.

Sergio Garcia has undertaken one of the more unusual preparations for the Australian Open: playing one of the world's most iconic holes 15 times in a row.

The Spanish winner of the Masters at Augusta will make his Open debut on Thursday and, as a marquee signing, has had numerous corporate outings in Sydney.

One included playing the par-3 sixth hole at New South Wales Golf Club repeatedly with amateur guests for his sponsor, Credit Suisse.

"I played the sixth hole 15 times in probably 40 km/h wind; that was fun," Garcia joked on Wednesday at Open host The Australian Golf Club.

The ocean-side sixth hole at La Perouse is regarded as one of the world's finest par 3s.

It is the centrepiece of a course designed by Augusta National architect Alister MacKenzie and was recently ranked No.46 in the world by GOLF Magazine.

"It was a wonderful golf course. It looked stunning," Garcia added.

Garcia now turns his attention to the Australian Open, where he hopes to tap in to the event's history of catapulting its champions to major-winning form.

Garcia endured almost 20 years of heartbreaking close calls at the majors before donning the green jacket at Augusta in 2017.

He has won three European Tour events since then but Garcia's results at golf's four biggest events have been shocking.

Garcia has missed the cut in seven of the 11 majors since his Masters win, with a best result a tie for 21st.

But the supremely talented Garcia said he was not resting on his laurels.

"You feel satisfied because (winning a major) is something you want to do for so many years," he said.

"It's not like after winning the Masters we stop practising; we want to keep achieving."

Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus are among the golfing icons who have etched their names on the Open's Stonehaven trophy.

But recently, the Open has made a habit of inspiring champions to almost immediate success at the majors.

Rory McIlroy claimed the British Open and US PGA Championship only months after winning at Royal Sydney in 2013, while Jordan Spieth won majors in the years after his 2014 and 2016 Open victories.

It was one of the lures for Garcia to make his Open debut - as a 40-year-old.

"The names ... are very impressive; it just shows you the quality of this tournament," he said.

"It's a shame that I haven't played this Open before but I'm excited to play well and give it a good run."

Australian Open officials are confident the worst of the smoky conditions are behind them after tournament favourite Adam Scott complained of "stinging eyes" during practice at The Australian Golf Club.

Like the rest of the Sydney, this year's venue has been engulfed with hazardous haze all week with at least one player preparing for the All Abilities event reporting breathing difficulties.

"It was pretty bad yesterday - stinging eyes and all that," Scott told AAP after Wednesday's pro-am.

Scott said he hoped the smoggy conditions wouldn't be a factor in the 104th running of the championship and tournament director Trevor Herden was confident they wouldn't.

Despite many sporting events being cancelled this week in Sydney's neighbouring eastern suburbs, Herden didn't believe the Open would disrupted like the Indian Open was last month because of the poor air quality.

"It is (an issue) but it's not near a major concern point at this point," Herden told AAP.

"We're in touch with authorities and we're listening to what they're saying, but we're fine at this point.

"We've got a very favourable forecast to address the smoke, if I could say it like that.

"It's all to do with the sea breeze.

"It was very smoky here at five o'clock this morning. Come 6.30 it was gone.

"Then it's been smoky here for the past five or six hours this afternoon, and now it's just turned in the last 30 minutes to the north-east.

"So the nor-east pushes it back to the west."

Herden said the worst winds coming from the due west were not forecast for the duration of the Open from Thursday to Sunday.

"The forecast for Saturday and Sunday is pretty much a good window with easterly and nor-easterly winds so it should be very light smoke, it any at all those two days," he said.

"Tomorrow we've got north, north-west, so there'll be some coming but the westerly was the worst wind and there's no forecast for that directly from the due west."

AUSTRALIAN OPEN KEY FACTS

When: December 5-8

Where: The Australian Golf Club, Sydney

Who: Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer

Prize money: $1.5 million

Course record: 61 (Rod Pampling, 2015 Australian Open final round)

Defending Champion: Abraham Ancer

Former champions in field: Abraham Ancer, Cameron Davis, Matt Jones, Greg Chalmers, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, John Senden, Robert Allenby, Stephen Allan, Craig Parry

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Adam Scott (AUS)

World ranking: 15

Best Australian Open finish: champion 2009

The former world No.1 starts as tournament favourite after enjoying his most consistent season in years, highlighted by eight top-10 finishes in 2019 including in all three FedEx Cup playoff events on the US PGA Tour.

Marc Leishman (AUS)

Ranking: 27

Best Australian Open finish: T11th 2007

Back issues and a bout of pneumonia slowed his hot start to the year in which the one-time British Open runner-up posted three top-four results in his first four events of 2019. Has shed eight kilograms since August to be lean and hungry to lift the Stonehaven Cup for the first time.

Cameron Smith (AUS)

Ranking: 52

Best Australian Open finish: T2nd 2016

The US PGA Tour regular has become a household name having won the past two Australian PGA Championships but he's hungry to lift the Stonehaven Cup, which has eluded him since losing to Jordan Spieth in a playoff three years ago.

Paul Casey (ENG)

Ranking: 14

Best Australian Open finish: debut

Veteran Casey, making his Australian Open debut, is the highest-ranked player in the field. The Englishman has been resurgent in the past two years, winning twice on the US PGA Tour and once on the European Tour.

Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

Ranking: 24

Best Australian Open finish: on debut

The 2010 British Open champ has never been to the east coast of Australia but is a past winner of the now-defunct Perth International tournament. Could join illustrious South African names on the Stonehaven Cup including record seven-time Open winner Gary Player.

Sergio Garcia (ESP)

Ranking: 35

Best Australian Open finish: on debut

The colourful Spaniard has played in Australia before but never the national championship. Garcia, who bagged his first major at the 2017 Masters and has won three European events since, has the ball-striking prowess to tame the lengthy test at The Australian GC.

Abraham Ancer (MEX)

Ranking: 38

Best Australian Open finish: champion 2018

Ancer returns to Sydney to defend the Stonehaven Cup he lifted at nearby The Lakes GC, when he became the first Mexican-born player to win the Australian Open. Ancer is in form, coming off top-eight results in his past two US PGA Tour starts.

Ernie Els (RSA)

Ranking: 438

Best Australian Open finish: Third (2001)

The four-time major winner will wow fans at The Australian GC with his silky smooth swing before captaining the International team at next week's Presidents Cup. But he has not been in good form on the US or European Tours.

An elusive second major aside, a second Stonehaven Cup is what Adam Scott craves most as the former world No.1 makes his eagerly-awaited Australian Open return on Thursday.

A conspicuous no-show at the past two editions, Scott will head up one of the hottest fields in years at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

Turning 40 in 2020, Scott on Wednesday recalled how his 2009 Open breakthrough resuscitated his career and hopes another triumph can prove the springboard to an even more prosperous decade ahead.

"I wish I had more than one Australian Open. I've played very well generally in the 10 years since winning Australian Open, but that was a pivotal point in my career," said the 2013 Masters champion.

"It was really a huge moment.

"I was 10 years into my career and I really struggled in '09 with my game and I came back and won the Australian Open at the end of the year and it just turned everything around.

"From there I played very well and obviously went on to become No.1 a few years after.

"So it was a big moment for me."

For all his successes, though, Scott remains a one-major wonder.

Only superstars Rory McIlroy, with 18, and Dustin Johnson (16) can top the Australian's 15 top-10 finishes at golf's big four events this decade.

The 39-year-old yearns for more and admits missing last year's Open to focus on preparing for the 2019 majors and restoring his flagging ranking was a wrench.

"It wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Scott said.

"However, last year I just had to take a break. I'd pushed myself pretty hard to get my game back in shape and it had been a grind and I saw no other way to take a break and get ready for the big stuff.

"And I have certainly felt like I have prioritised playing as much as I can back in Australia. Certainly through the period when I was a major champion or No.1 in the world.

"It was disappointing to miss it, of course - I'm not going to win it by not playing it."

Scott is among six players from Ernie Els' International team in Sydney preparing for next week's Presidents Cup, joining countrymen Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, Mexico's defending champion Abraham Ancer, Taiwan's CT Pan and South African Louis Oosthuizen.

But he's certainly not at the Open merely to warm up for Tiger Woods' powerhouse US team.

He's still hurting from not winning the 2013 Open at Royal Sydney, after bogeying the 72nd hole before McIlroy birdied the last to snatch the Stonehaven Cup from his grasp.

Matt Jones also denied Scott by a shot four years ago at The Australian.

"I'm a little surprised that I haven't won another Australian Open in this 10-year stretch," Scott said.

"I managed to get a couple of (Australian) Masters in that period and a PGA (championship) but it would be nice to get my name on that cup again. It's a great trophy and any time you see your name wracking up on the same trophy is something quite special.

"So this week would be the week to do it."

Ernie Els will search for the International team member with "the look in the eye" before deciding who will stare down Tiger Woods in the Sunday singles of next week's Presidents Cup in Melbourne.

South African great Els, skipper of the International side, admits plenty of team members have put their hand up to face 15-time major winner Woods in the head-to-head finale at the biennial event.

The desperation to face Woods, the American playing captain at Royal Melbourne, is because it could be the last time Woods plays for an American golf team.

Woods turns 44 only weeks after the Cup and has had more trouble than ever battling injuries related to the four back surgeries he's undergone.

Remarkably, Woods captured a first major in 11 years at the Masters in April, his fifth green jacket, before a record-equalling 82nd US PGA Tour win at the recent Zozo Championship in Japan.

Els is trying not to think about the potentially momentous occasion, but is already getting asked.

"I'm really focused on the first couple of sessions; we've got a lot of golf to play before the singles," said Els ahead of his second Australian Open appearance, having finished third in 2001.

"I'll analyse how the guys are playing and see who's really got the look in the eye.

"A lot of guys have put their hands up to play Tiger, but there's going to be a lot of discussion.

"(Some) have never competed against Tiger and the youngsters look up to him (and) definitely want to have a piece of him."

Woods has often chosen the local star to duel when the Presidents Cup has travelled outside the US.

He famously asked to play Greg Norman at Royal Melbourne in 1998, beating him on the final hole while the American team suffered their only loss in the Cup's 25-year history.

Woods smashed Els in South Africa in 2003 before losing to Canadian Mike Weir at the 2007 edition in Montreal.

He then thrashed Australia's Aaron Baddeley at Royal Melbourne in 2011.

There is a strong chance Woods will want to take on homegrown star Adam Scott, the best-ranked player among the Internationals.

Scott and Woods have never faced off in the Presidents Cup singles.

But former world No.1 Scott would welcome the challenge.

"It'd be great to stick it to Tiger and the entire American team," Scott said.

"He's the ultimate competitor; there's no way he's not doing everything possible coming down here as a captain, and a player, to win this event.

"There's no way he wants to be captain of a losing US team.

"It's going to be very difficult but we have to believe we can beat him and I believe we can win next week."

Tiger Woods has defended Phil Mickelson and other top players who have signed up for the second edition of the Saudi International.

The European Tour, and the players who took part, came under scrutiny last year for staging an event in Saudi Arabia because of its human rights record, especially with the tournament taking place three months after the killing of journalist Jamal Kashoggi.

Dustin Johnson won the inaugural event and returns this year along with Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, and European stars Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry and Sergio Garcia.

Woods and Rory McIlroy are among those not playing.

"I understand the politics behind it," Woods said Tuesday. "But the game of golf can actually help heal all that, too. It can help grow that. There are also a lot of other top players that are going to be playing that particular week. It's traditionally not a golf hotbed in the Middle East, but it has grown quite a bit."

Mickelson said in a statement released by tournament organisers that he watched Johnson win last year and thought the course looked like an interesting challenge, along with mentioning how it could help grow golf in the region.

All the top players are paid hefty appearance fees, which is allowed on the European Tour.

Mickelson later replied to criticism on Twitter by saying: "I understand those who are upset or disappointed. You'll be OK. I'm excited to experience this for the first time."

Mickelson previously played in Abu Dhabi in 2011 and 2014.

Woods has a long history in the Middle East, first playing the Dubai Desert Classic in 2001. He played Dubai eight times, most recently in 2017, and won twice. He also played twice in Abu Dhabi.

"I remember going to Dubai for my very first time and seeing maybe two, three buildings on the skyline when you tee off on No. 8," he said.

"Now there's a New York City skyline back there. The game of golf has grown. There's only been a few courses when I first went to Dubai, now they're everywhere; same with Abu Dhabi and maybe eventually in Saudi Arabia."

Tiger Woods Design is building Trump World Golf Club Dubai, which is scheduled to open next year.