After a disappointing 2015 Adam Scott leads a strong contingent of Australians into battle at the first full field event of 2016 in Hawaii this week.

The 2013 Masters champion tees up at the Sony Open for the sixth time in his career, one of seven Australians assured of a start with two more on the alternates list. 

Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Steven Bowditch, Marc Leishman, John Senden and Cameron Smith are all in the field with Rhein Gibson and Rod Pampling both on the alternates list.

Scott has a checkered history at Waialae Country Club with as many missed cuts as top-10 finishes though his last appearance, in 2014, returned a T8 after a final round charge.

He was T2 in 2009 after recovering from a lackluster opening round 71 to shoot 66-66-64 so has the game to post low numbers at the venue which will be required if he is to contend this week.

Scott’s last appearance was the limited field Hero World Challenge in December where he shot three sub 70 rounds, solid golf the week after his brilliant Sunday 66 at the Australian Open.

Scott, who didn’t tee up for the first time until March last year, will be motivated for a strong campaign in 2016 and an early start to the season is an indication of that.

Of the other Australians both Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby have had their moments in Hawaii, Appleby runner up in 2000 and top-10 three other times while Allenby was second in 2010 with two further top-10 results.

Allenby has missed four of five cuts prior to christmas but a fresh start to the year may be just what’s needed to turn around what has been a lengthy slump.

Appleby is also on the comeback trail after a back operation early last year. He played four times in the lead up to christmas with two missed cuts and two tail-of-the-field finishes but with only 16 events remaining on his medical extension needs to get back on track quickly.

John Senden has been a regular visitor to Hawaii in his PGA TOUR career though has never shown a great liking for the course with T20 his best in 12 starts and five missed cuts along the way.

Steven Bowditch comes to Waialae off a good performance at last week’s Tournament of Champions and will be looking to overturn an indifferent history here where T34 is his best in four starts

The man to watch this week, though, might be Marc Leishman. Coming off a last start victory in South Africa the Victorian has shown flashes of brilliance at this venue including a second round 62 last year.

He was fifth in 2014 and with a new equipment contract announced last week will be keen to make his mark early.

The last Australian in the field, Cameron Smith, is an unknown quantity this week as he makes his debut at this tournament.

This is his third appearance on US soil for the season after earning his card late in 2015 and he will be keen to atone for the two missed cuts he has posted so far.

He had an up and down summer in Australia where he seemed constantly on the verge of playing some good golf and will no doubt have been practising hard over the break.