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Adam Scott's best putting ranking going into the Masters in 15 years is just one reason Australian fans should be excited about the year's first golf major this week.

The Australian representation at Augusta National is lean, with only Scott, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith among the 87 players.

But it is the first Masters since 2007 that Australia will field four players ranked within the world's top 30.

It's a promising sign that Scott, the history-making 2013 Masters champion, has his putter working well again - he is ranked 14th on the US PGA Tour for strokes gained in putting.

It is his best rank since he entered the 2004 Masters at 12th in that category.

Scott has used one of golf's 2019 rule changes, which allows players to leave the flagstick in on putts, to his advantage.

He admits the flag can act as a backboard and allow him to hit shorter putts more aggressively, rather than obsess over the break.

The former world No.1 has attributed his form on the greens to reuniting with former coach Brad Malone, the guru who suggested Scott adopt the broomstick putter he used to win at Augusta six years ago.

It is Scott's first Masters with Malone since 2015 and the Englishman has Scott's game in a good place.

"Brad knows how to manipulate me into a good playing frame of mind and that helps me going into the big events," Scott told AAP.

Leishman, however, is the form Australian and the only one of the quartet to have won on the US tour this season.

With a fourth behind Scott at the 2013 Masters and four other top-10s at the majors, Leishman feels it is his time to win on golf's biggest stage.

"I feel I'm ready for that next step," Leishman told reporters on Wednesday. "I'm ready for it; whether it happens or not this week is a different story. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself.

"But my whole game feels good; I'm driving it pretty well and all the tools are there."

As the top Australian at last year's Masters, tied for fifth, Smith also feels ready to give the Masters a shake up.

"Yeah I think so; I definitely won't shy away from contention," Smith said.

"I've been there enough times to know what it's like near the top of the leaderboard and I'm feeling good."

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, is at the Masters this week and expects his four countrymen to be in contention.

"One hundred per cent, they are all genuine chances to win," Ogilvy said.

"Adam has won it before, Jason has always been in the mix here, and so has 'Leish'. Cam is the new up and comer.

"It would not surprise me to see the Australians go deep in this tournament."

Jason Day believes he finally has his emotions under enough control at Augusta National to win the title he craves most.

"A Masters victory would cap everything I've ever wanted to accomplish in my life," Day told AAP on Wednesday.

That level of desire at such a hallowed event and venue brings special pressure but Day feels better at harnessing it.

The Queenslander already has a runner-up, a third and another top-10 finish among six top-25 finishes from eight Masters appearances, without donning famous green jacket.

"The Masters is all about controlling your emotions and attitude, so hopefully I can do that and combine it with good play and be in contention come Sunday," Day said.

At 31, Day's impressive career includes 12 US PGA Tour wins, 51 weeks as world No.1 and a major victory at the 2015 US PGA Championship.

"I'm proud of what I've achieved but you can't be satisfied," he said.

"You always have to strive for more and push yourself. Hopefully, one of these days I get to wear the green jacket."

Although Day's chronically injured back flared up during recent tournaments, it did not trouble him in five nine-hole practice rounds since Friday and numerous sessions on the driving range.

Along with having one of golf's best short games, Day's ball-striking appeared sharp on Wednesday and practice round partner Alvaro Ortiz predicted a strong result.

"He looks unbelievable," Mexican amateur Ortiz said. "He is driving it great and his game is on point.

"He seems comfortable around this course and I think he's going to have a good week."

Reflecting his composure this week, Day sent the crowd wild on the last hole of his Wednesday practice round, chipping in for birdie from an extremely difficult position beside the par-4 ninth green.

Day's close friend and fellow Australian pro golfer David Lutterus called it "one of the best shots I've ever seen him hit".

The short game masterclass capped a measured but intense preparation for Day as he readies for the year's first major, which begins on Thursday (Friday AEST).

Long-time coach Colin Swatton agreed Day was getting better at keeping his emotions in check at the Masters.

"It's no secret Jason wants to win at Augusta," Swatton said.

"The key to success here is not trying to force it, rather letting the course come to him.

"He knows what he has to do to get the job done."

Adam Scott admits surrendering chances to win several majors in recent years have weighed on him, but the 2013 Masters winner is using them as motivation to claim a second green jacket at Augusta National this week.

On the eve of the 83rd Masters, a defiant Scott expressed some disbelief that he was not already a multiple major champion - which no Australian has managed in the men's game since Greg Norman won a second British Open title in 1993.

The sublimely talented Scott's close calls at the majors include the two most recent championships.

He played in the final group and briefly held the lead at the US PGA Championship in August and also started Sunday at the British Open well in contention.

The former world No.1 said it was time to add another major to his legacy.

"It would mean a lot at this point in my career. Certainly, certainly off the back off the last two major performances," Scott told AAP at Augusta on Wednesday.

"Let's be honest ... there are quite a few where I put myself in contention a few years ago and didn't pull it off."

Scott's nearest misses have been at the British Open, where he surrendered a four-shot lead in the final four holes in 2012 before finishing third, fifth and 10th in the next three Opens.

"I led the Open three times with five holes to go and never won it ... I feel like I should be a multiple major winner," Scott said.

"Those who win multiple majors take a different step in their legacy; I definitely feel that's where I should be and I wouldn't be satisfied unless I was in that (category)."

In the midst of coaching and scheduling changes, Scott experienced some lean years, with his overall winless drought stretching back to March 2016.

"When you're working hard and not playing good, it's easy to go lose your mind and fall off the face of the earth. That has been done before," he said.

But the 38-year-old has come through the other side and feels on the cusp of another great stretch of golf.

"I think I'm about to hit it like I know I can ... I can really strike it with the best of them when I'm on my game and I'm so close to seeing that," he said.

Scott will tee off on Thursday in the first round at Augusta as a serious chance to win.

With a runner-up result and another top-10 on the US PGA Tour this year - as well as a tie for 12th at the elite Players Championship - Scott has climbed back up the rankings to world No 29.

Most importantly, Scott has an intangible level of comfort having already donned Augusta's coveted green jacket.

His record at Augusta includes a runner-up among five top-10s and nine top-25s in 17 Masters.

"There is no more anxiety or stress about breaking through; there certainly is a comfort level playing here as a past champion," he said. "Hopefully I can use my experience to win another one this week."

American star Brooks Koepka has been handed extra motivation to land his third golf major title in 10 months at the Masters after being slammed over weight loss.

The strapping Koepka revealed in March he had dropped about 10kg since November, though he was coy about the reason. He also lost some edge from his game, with just one top-20 finish so far this year.

Having retained the US Open title and then won US PGA Championship in a stellar 2018, the 28-year-old would normally be among the hottest favourites at Augusta National, but that's not the case.

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee on Wednesday linked Koepka's form to rumours of a photo shoot for ESPN magazine's The Body Issue.

"We know what (Koepka) did at the end of last year. You could extrapolate what he did at the end of last year to what he was likely to do here at Augusta National if everything was the same," Chamblee said.

"Now for him to change his body and his body chemistry for vanity reasons, for a vanity shoot, is the most reckless self-sabotage that I have ever seen of an athlete in his prime.

"To do something that takes you out of your game, to change your game completely ... to see someone's body change drastically, it's never worked out very well.

"It's led to a deterioration."

Koepka was 33rd on his Masters debut in 2015 before finishing tied 21st in 2016, tied 11th in 2017 and missing last year's Masters with a wrist injury.

Koepka said he had returned from that injury-enforced lay-off with a greater appreciation for golf.

He certainly wasn't talking like a player unprepared to contend for the green jacket.

"I've never been a major champion when I've played here before," Koepka said.

"I'm a completely different player, probably. I understand that I handle pressure a lot better. I understand this golf course a lot better.

"Even sitting out a year, there's certain things you can pick up watching and I've kind of matured on and off the golf course.

"That makes a big deal."

All eyes are on Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at the Masters once again and the pair are using healthy perspective to keep pressure at bay.

A fifth Masters victory for Woods would put him one behind Augusta's greatest champion, Jack Nicklaus, and take him to within three of the American legend's record of 18 majors.

An Augusta National victory by the revitalised McIlroy would make the world No.3 just the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam.

Both men are veterans of golf's spotlight and able to draw on the lessons they have gleaned from it.

"I don't really need to win again ... (but) I really want to," said 43-year-old Woods, back at world No.12 and seeking his first green jacket since his 2005 play-off triumph over Chris DiMarco.

With a US Open, a British Open and two US PGA Championship titles to his name, world No.3 McIlroy is for a fifth time seeking a Masters green jacket that would complete the majors set.

Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods have achieved that feat.

"I would dearly love to win the Masters one day (but) if it doesn't happen this week, that's fine; I'll come back next year and take another crack at it," said McIlroy.

"I am not my score; I am not my results. I've had a healthy dose of perspective this year."

McIlroy previously admitted the Masters "is stressful" and that he can be "a complete prick in the week leading up to Augusta".

His resurgence this year coincides with efforts to make himself a more rounded person, and his day includes mind training, meditation and juggling

Woods and McIlroy enter the 83rd Masters, which starts on Thursday, among the favourites to win from 87 players in the field.

McIlroy is the favourite at $7.50 with Australian bookmakers while Woods is fourth at $15.

However, Woods has not tasted major success since the 2008 US Open, while it has been four years since McIlroy's 2014 PGA Championship win.

Both are quietly confident.

McIlroy won the elite Players Championship last month and has not finished worse than ninth in his seven US PGA Tour starts this year.

In 2018, Woods finished tied sixth at the British Open and second at the PGA before he won the Tour Championship for his 80th PGA Tour title.

"It proved to me I could win again," he said of his wire-to-wire victory in Atlanta.

Even Phil Mickelson - himself a chance to win the Masters for a fourth time - believes Woods is capable of reeling in Nicklaus's 18 majors.

"I wouldn't rule him out," said Mickelson, who won February's Pebble Beach Pro Am.

"To see the way he played the Open and the PGA Championship, greatness is still in him."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MASTERS

Australians in the field:

Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and 2013 winner Adam Scott

Size of the field:

87

Prize money:

The purse is announced after the event. The total 2018 purse was $US11 million, with the winner pocketing $US1.98 million; second place $1.188 million; third place $US748,000; fourth place $US 528,000 and; fifth place $US440,000.

When was the first Masters?

The first Masters was held in 1934 as a concept of celebrated amateur golfer Bobby Jones and investment dealer Clifford Roberts, who co-founded Augusta National Golf Club in 1933. The inaugural event was won by Horton Smith

How have Australians performed at the Masters?

Adam Scott was the first and still the only Australian to win the Masters when he triumphed in 2013. Runner-ups include 1950 - Jim Ferrier (Australian-born US citizen); 1972 (Bruce Crampton, tied second); 1980 - Jack Newton (tied second); 1986 - Greg Norman (tied second); 1987 - Norman (tied second); 1996 - Norman (solo second); 2011 - Jason Day and Scott (tied second)

Where did the Masters get its name?

It was originally called the 'Augusta National Invitation Tournament' but Roberts suggested the tournament reference to the "masters of golf" who competed in it and it was renamed in 1939

How did it become a major championship?

Although it has an elite field, the Masters isn't the pinnacle of any one tour or organisation, like the other three majors - the US Open, British Open and the US PGA Championship. Popular opinion among golf writers determined the composition of the current four majors. The Masters derived its popularity from Jones - a star American athlete in the 1920s and '30s who made history when he won the open and amateur championships in the US and the UK in 1930

Why does the winner get a green jacket?

Augusta National members began wearing green sports jackets in 1937 so they could be recognised if fans had questions about the tournament. The tradition was expanded to winners being presented with green jackets in 1949.

Who are the highest-profile Augusta National members?

Augusta never comments on its membership but reported members include Microsoft chairman Bill Gates; US former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett; oil baron T. Boone Pickens and six-time Masters winner Jack Nicklaus

Who designed the course?

Augusta National's original architect was Alister MacKenzie, whose Australian work includes the West Course at Royal Melbourne, New South Wales Golf Club and Royal Adelaide Golf Club. MacKenzie died in January 1934, after the construction work had been finished but before Augusta National was fully covered with grass.

What are the most popular names seen during the Masters?

'Amen Corner' relates to holes 11, 12 and 13; 'Magnolia Lane' is the driveway leading from Washington Road entrance to the Augusta National's clubhouse and is lined by 60 magnolia trees planted in the 1850s; 'Rae's Creek' is a stream that comes into play on the 12th and 13th holes and is named after former property owner John Rae, who died in 1789; the 'Butler Cabin', built in 1964, is where the winner conducts his interview with CBS and is first presented with the coveted green jacket by the previous Masters champion.

Australia's Cameron Smith is confident he can repay a big compliment after being placed in a marquee group with history-chasing Rory McIlroy at the Masters.

Smith will play the first two rounds alongside world No.3 McIlroy, as the Northern Irishman attempts to complete a career grand slam, as well as American star Rickie Fowler, the 2018 runner-up.

The grouping is a significant show of faith by Augusta National in world No.28 Smith's game and ability to handle golf's biggest stage.

The honour was not lost on the 25-year-old Queenslander, who made a strong impression when fifth in 2018 after a closing 66.

"It's a nice feeling to know you've been placed in a group with two big names like that," Smith told AAP on Tuesday.

"I feel it is a bonus of the way I've played the last couple years; I've climbed up the world rankings and finished fifth at Augusta last year."

Smith feels he will thrive in the spotlight.

"I like the big stage at the majors," he said. "I feel it brings out my best golf when there is a bit of pressure.

"There will be a lot of fans watching Rory and it's going to be fun. And with Rickie, his caddie Joe (Skovron) and my caddie (Sam Pinfold) are really good mates.

"I know Rickie very well, so I think it's going to be a great group and I'm hoping we can feed off each other's good play."

Four-time major winner McIlroy needs to win Augusta's green jacket to become just the sixth golfer in history to claim all four major championships.

The 29-year-old is favourite to win the year's first major after he won the elite Players Championship recently and he has finished inside the top 10 in all of his seven PGA Tour starts this year.

Smith, McIlroy and Fowler will tee off in Thursday's opening round at 11.15am local time (1.15am Friday AEST).

Jason Day will play with fellow former world No.1 Dustin Johnson and in-form American Bryson DeChambeau. They tee off at 1.38pm (3.38am Friday AEST).

Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, is first out among the four Australians on Thursday, teeing off at 10.09am (12.09am Friday AEST) with Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama and American Kyle Stanley.

Marc Leishman, the Australian world No.19, will open his Masters campaign at 10.42am (12.42am Friday AEST) alongside 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen and Charley Hoffman.

Other notable groups include four-time Masters winner Tiger Woods, Chinese star Haotong Li and Jon Rahm at 11.04am Thursday (1.04 am Friday AEST) as well as Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas at 1.49pm (3.49am Friday AEST).

Online scalpers are gouging Masters fans for exorbitant prices to attend the Augusta National major with the cheapest ticket to watch all four rounds starting at $10,000 ($A14,000).

Users of platform StubHub - an online ticket exchange owned by eBay - have swallowed up a considerable amount of tickets to this year's Masters in an attempt to exploit its appeal as one of the most-sought after events in world sport.

The cheapest ticket on StubHub for Wednesday's practice round start at $2500 ($A3500) while Thursday's opening round will cost punters $3,300 ($A4600) and Friday's second round $3500 ($A4900).

Masters fans wanting to buy tickets through StubHub to attend both Thursday and Friday will have to fork out $7500 ($A10,500).

Legitimate tickets are difficult to obtain through the proper channels but lucky fans who secure them pay a very reasonable rate - one of many reasons the Masters is lauded as one of world's sports best events.

Last year, practice round tickets cost $75 ($A105) and fans were able to request up to four tickets.

Daily tickets for the tournament rounds cost $115 ($A160) and fans could request up to two tickets.

One of two ways to legitimately secure Masters tickets is through Augusta National's ballot, which opens shortly after the event for the following year and is drawn out around July.

The second avenue is Augusta National's pool of Patron badges, which is very limited but can be kept for life by the badge holder.

If a badge holder dies, it can only be transferred to their a spouse but not to any other family member.

The last time the waiting list for Patron Badges was opened up for new names was in 2000.

The resale of Masters tickets is prohibited by Augusta National, whose ticket policy states "the ticket/s may not be offered for sale, sold or rented through/to third party resellers including ... scalpers."

Holders of tickets obtained through a third party can be kicked out of Augusta.

Three-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who attended the Masters a child in the late 1990s, believes it is a wider problem within American sport.

"I'm not surprised; I think it happens in every sport," Koepka said at Augusta on Tuesday.

Koepka, one of the Masters favourites this week, said his experience at Augusta inspired him to purse a career in professional golf despite an autograph snub from Phil Mickelson.

"I remember when I came as a little kid it was an amazing experience," Koepka, 28, said.

"I tried to get Phil's autograph. I was standing by the range and somehow found my way into the parking lot.

"I asked him for an autograph and he said no; probably the only kid Phil's ever turned down.

"He told me years later, I shouldn't have been in the parking lot so that was fair enough."

World No.1 Justin Rose is the man to beat at this week's Masters, where recent history suggests golf's biggest names will populate the leaderboard by Sunday at a major championship that is more predictable than any other.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy is the second favourite from a formidable European contingent, while Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are the best American bets, even if Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will loom larger in the public imagination.

Others capable of victory include Europeans Francesco Molinari, Jon Rahm, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, and Americans Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson.

Australians Jason Day, Marc Leishman and 2013 champion Adam Scott, are also capable.

There has been no long-shot winner at Augusta National since 69th-ranked Angel Cabrera collected the Green Jacket in 2009, though even the Argentine's victory was far from a huge shock given his pedigree as a US Open champion two years earlier.

Nobody ranked outside the top 30 in the world has won since then, and even Patrick Reed, though not one of the favourites last year, was ranked 24th and not a completely unexpected champion.

An Augusta winner must be able to draw his driver, fade his irons from hanging lies and have the artistry to hit great recovery shots. He must also be on form and mentally resilient.

Englishman Rose ticks all these boxes.

It is almost as if Augusta National was designed with him in mind.

He has finished top-15 each of the past five years, including a pair of runner-up finishes, most notably a play-off loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017.

Rose has been a machine from tee to green at Augusta, and if the putter co-operates it will take a mighty performance from someone else to beat him.

But to win, he will have to put out of his mind the thought that the clock is ticking.

Though playing as well as ever at age 38, Rose cannot realistically expect too many more chances.

Waiting to pounce could be McIlroy, though he too has plenty of pressure as he tries to complete the career grand slam at a tournament where he wilted in the final round last year after starting three strokes behind Reed.

McIlroy's stock drive is a right-to-left draw, ideal for Augusta, and he has been working with his irons on hitting the soft, high fade that is required with many approach shots.

He has been the best player in the world in 2019 and top-10 finishes the past five years is all the proof needed to be confident he will be in contention again.

Adam Scott's habitual radar-watching as an avid surfer has come in handy as wild weather in Augusta threatens to take a full day of practice away from Masters hopefuls.

A combination of rain, strong winds and thunderstorms forced tournament officials to suspend practice on Monday and send patrons from the hallowed turf of Augusta National Golf Club.

It is forecast to get worse with rain and thunderstorms, likely resulting in practice being completely cancelled for Tuesday.

But 2013 Masters winner Scott, who often surfs with 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, was watching the weather forecast from his Bahamas base last week.

It prompted the 38-year-old to play a full 18 holes with his pro golf father, Phil, on Sunday at Augusta - rather than the more common nine holes per day leading up to Thursday's first round.

Scott also made a reconnaissance mission to Augusta two weeks ago to play practice rounds and to bring caddie John Limanti up to speed on how he likes to tackle the famed Georgia golf course.

"This weather is good for me because I feel like I allowed for it," Scott told AAP after a nine-hole session on Monday.

"I was looking forward into the weather forecast all last week.

"I played 18 yesterday and all the practice I did last week was designed to arrive at Augusta and not be searching for anything."

But Scott isn't the only one of the four Australians who feels prepared for the 83rd Masters.

Jason Day was the first Australian to arrive for Masters week, arriving on Friday, and has either played nine holes or practised his short game on the course on each of the four days.

Australia's most in-form player on the PGA Tour, Marc Leishman, arrived on Sunday and, with two nine-hole practice rounds already under his belt, welcomed the bad weather.

"No, losing a day of practice doesn't bother me at all," he said on Monday.

"I will happily sit at home and play with the kids. I have a late Wednesday tee time in the Masters Par 3 competition.

"I may not even come to the course tomorrow if it's putrid."

Cameron Smith, the top Australian at the Masters last year in a share of fifth place, arrived on Monday morning for a practice round alongside 2000 Masters winner Vijay Singh.

Smith practises regularly with Singh at TPC Sawgrass in Florida and admitted he picked the former world No.1's brain on playing Augusta.