After two weeks off following back to back missed cuts Matt Jones will be looking to recapture the form that saw him finish third at last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational when he tees up at Bay Hill this week.

Jones rocketed into contention after a brilliant second round 65 last year and with weekend rounds of 67-68 finished just two shots behind eventual winner Matt Every.

Jones has shown decent form on the course in his five appearances at Bay Hill to date with just one missed cut and a T14 result in 2014.

The Sydneysider will be looking to turn around an indifferent start to the year where his best finish has been T11 at Pebble Beach.

Jones is joined by five other Australians this week, Adam Scott and Jason Day attracting the bulk of attention with just three weeks to go before the US Masters tees off.

Scott, the hottest player on the PGA TOUR with back to back wins in his last two starts, has a score to settle with the Bay Hill course after a bizarre meltdown in 2014.

That year he opened with a course record equalling 62 but went on to finish third after inexplicably firing a final round 76.

However, the former Masters winner has proved a much grittier player already in 2016 and in his current form is likely to be among the leaders at the business end of the tournament.

Conversely, Day has been at less than his best in limited appearances in 2016 with a T10 at the winners’ only Tournament of Champions to begin the year his best to date.

Illness saw Day miss the cut in his title defence at the Farmers Insurance tournament at Torrey Pines though he looked solid at Pebble Beach when T11.

With the year’s first major fast approaching Day will be motivated to produce some good golf though his previous form at Bay Hill leaves little to get excited about.

In five appearances Day has withdrawn once and missed the cut once with a best result of T17, which came last year.

Marc Leishman, Ryan Ruffels and Aaron Baddeley round out the Australian challenge, Leishman finishing T3 in 2011 though missing the cut last year.

Baddeley has been a regular visitor to Arnold Palmer’s tournament with two top 10 finishes, in 2003 and 2005, and just two missed cuts in nine starts.

Ryan Ruffels was extended a sponsor’s invite to tee up this week and while there has been little fanfare his PGA TOUR debut as a professional earlier in the year was impressive.

He made the cut at both Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach and will be itching to test himself against the strong field assembled this week.