The 2015 champion made the difficult decision not to defend his title last year due to a form slump. But the local favourite has rediscovered some of his best form after the recent Web.com finals.

“It was very disappointing not to be able to play last year and defend my title,” Jones said. “But circumstances I put myself in made me have to make a decision, and I made the decision (to skip the tournament), which was a very tough one to make.

“To play the way I did in 2016 and 2017 was not typical of myself. And to lose my (PGA Tour) card but then get it back through Web.com finals was good. I didn’t want to have to rely on sponsor exemptions and mineral starts again this year.”

Matt Jones won the Australian Open when it was last held at The Australian Golf Club in 2015. PHOTO: Matt King/Getty Images.

Jones has been a member of The Australian Golf Club for 22 years and knows the course backwards – despite the Jack Nicklaus redesign – which he sees as a huge advantage.

“I’ve been a member here since I was 15 and I’ve only known playing this course is the wind, it always seems to blow here,” Jones said. “So it’s a big advantage I think. The more the wind blows here the better it would be for me.

“I would have known the course much better seven years ago before Nicklaus came in and did the redesign.

“The greens, I don’t really know now, every green is different now … but it is a very comfortable course for me to walk around and play. I could do it with my eyes closed off the tee, but on the greens it’s a little different now.”

The 37-year-old has been paired with defending champion, Jordan Spieth, for the first two rounds and will also play alongside Cameron Smith.

“It’s great to see him (Spieth) come back here every year and play,” Jones said. “I know he loves it, we might have to give him Australian citizenship soon.”

Matt Jones will play alongside Jordan Spieth in the opening two rounds. PHOTO: William West/Getty Images.

Tournament Director, Trevor Herden, is happy with the talent on show this week but acknowledged the absence of Adam Scott will be considerate.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t reach an agreement with Adam and he’s not playing,” Herden said. “We tried hard, there were offers made, and they probably weren’t good enough.

“Adam has been a great supporter and the Australian Open has been kind to Adam, too. So it’s unfortunate, I’m sure the fans would have loved to have seen him, but we’ve got Jason (Day) as well and a good group of players. We should have an exciting tournament.”

Adam Scott, winner in 2009, won’t be playing this week after a deal couldn’t be reached. PHOTO: Andrew Reddington/Getty Images.

Herden also addressed the heavily debated scheduling issue that forces our national Open to compete with multiple other tournaments worldwide.

“This is a strong championship, which everyone wants to win,” Herden said. “We go up against four other major tournaments around the world in this very week … everybody clashes at the end of the year … so we’re quite lucky to have Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, quite frankly.”

The 102nd Australian Open gets underway on Thursday morning at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.