An unconventional start to the ISPS HANDA Perth International has so far proven to be a winner for Aussie Rhein Gibson.

Gibson, who flew out from his base in the United States, only arrived in town on Wednesday afternoon and took his first shot on the Lake Karrinyup course during round 1 on Thursday.

Currently the highest ranked Australian Gibson sits in second place behind tournament leader Peter Uihlein.

"I showed up, got into Sydney Wednesday morning, got here lunchtime Wednesday. And yeah, wasn’t in the Pro-Am, so, I didn’t even see the first tee or 10th tee until Thursday lunchtime," Gibson said.

Despite never preparing for a tournament with such little time on course Gibson said his knowledge of Lake Karrinyup from last time he was here in 2014 was a definite advantage

"I always enjoy coming home. I love Karrinyup. I played decent here the last time I was here, so, yeah, happy to be here," he said.

"Had I not played the course before, I probably would have walked it Wednesday afternoon to get a feel for it. But because I’ve played it before and had some good memories, I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal," Gibson added.

Playing on the Web.com tour Gibson played 34 events in 2015, a feat he said was taxing on all fronts.

"I played 33, 34 events last year, which I’ve never done before, I was absolutely wrecked. But I had to because I was trying to get my PGA TOUR card. Obviously got what I wanted, but yeah, I mean, by the end of the fall, I was done," Gibson explained.

"I love to play golf as much as I can but 34 four-day events that’s a lot of time away from my wife and home," he added.

A win at the ISPS HANDA Perth International would give Gibson a two-year exemption on the European Tour, however he says his focus is ideally still to play most of his golf in the United States.

"I’m based in America. My wife’s American. That’s where I want to be. That’s the ultimate goal obviously. But I guess having the two-year exemption may take a little pressure off when I go back to the PGA Tour, so maybe my results would start getting better."

"But, worse comes to worse, if I have a European Tour card, I’ll play Europe next year. It doesn’t really matter where you play these days. You play good golf, get your World Ranking up, you can get into the WGC events, you can get back into all the big events to get back on the PGA TOUR in the future," he said.

For now he is just hoping to continue his form and take some of this confidence back to the US.

"I feel like I’m playing pretty well. Just going to stick to my same game plan and see where it puts me on Sunday. Hopefully I can bring this confidence back to the States."