Former winner Stuart Appleby will be looking to draw on good memories as he continues his comeback from back surgery at this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

The 44-year-old last week survived all four rounds of a tournament for just the second time since going under the knife in February and will be looking to improve on his T69 finish at the Fry’s when play gets underway at TPC Summerlin this week.

Appleby won here in 2003 and while his best finish since has been T23 he will take some positive vibes into the week.
One of seven Australians to tee up this week, Appleby has the best overall record at this event though John Senden finished top-20 last year.

Also playing are Robert Allenby, Steven Bowditch and Geoff Ogilvy as well as rookies Rhein Gibson and Cameron Smith.

Rod Pampling, who was one of nine Australians to attempt to Monday qualify for the tournament, is on the alternates list.

After an inauspicious start to their PGA TOUR careers when both missed the cut last week, Rhein Gibson and Cameron Smith will be expecting better results in Las Vegas.

Gibson has played a hectic schedule of golf over the past three months and is likely suffering some fatigue as he tries to find his feet in new surroundings but he can afford little time to adjust.

With starts increasingly difficult to come by after Christmas, the next two months offer Web.com graduates their best chance to secure their position on the Tour and Gibson will be aware the clock is ticking.

For Cameron Smith the problem is the opposite as he has little competitive golf under his belt since his brilliant US Open performance in June.

He teed up just three times on the PGA TOUR after Chambers Bay, two of those starts coming in August, while illness meant he missed the European Masters in July.

His only other tournament appearance was a missed cut at the start of October on the Asian Tour so it may take the 22-year-old a week or two to settle into the rhythm of tournament golf again.

Smith has exceeded expectations at every level of his short Professional career to date and it would be a surprise if he didn’t do so again on the world’s premiere Tour in 2016.