Matt Jones proved two years ago it can be done and for seven of the nine Australians in the Shell Houston Open field it is a US Masters berth which will be the driving force this week.

Only Cameron Smith and Steven Bowditch are assured places in the field at Augusta National next week but Jones, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Rhein Gibson and John Senden will all be harbouring hopes of a Houston win and a start in the year’s first Major.

Based on recent form Aaron Baddeley seems the most likely candidate, the three time TOUR winner notching his third top-10 of the season last week in Puerto Rico is an improved player to the one who lost his card last season.

Baddeley played his first Masters as an amateur in 2000 when he was invited thanks to his astonishing win at the Australian Open the year before and has made five further appearances.

His best finish was T17 in 2009 but the 35-year-old is a rejuvenated golfer this year and would no doubt love another chance at Augusta.

With a game that seems well suited to the course, where wide fairways allow for some recovery from off line driving and the greens demand superb putting, it is an oddity that Baddeley has not performed better in the Masters and if he were to pull out a victory this week a personal best seems likely.

The first hurdle will be for the Victorian to overcome his form history at the Shell Houston Open where he has missed the cut the past two years and has a best of T4 in 2011.

Fellow Victorian Geoff Ogilvy might be the most motivated of the Australians, the 2006 US Open champion openly admitting playing the Masters, which he did for seven consecutive years from 2006, is one of the highlights of his year.

His last PGA TOUR victory came at the 2014 Barracuda Championship in the midst of a poor run of form and was the result of a turnaround in attitude.

Having been a legitimate contender at Augusta previously (he was T4 in 2011 when Charl Schwartzel broke the hearts of Australia with his four birdie finish to pip Adam Scott and Jason Day) Ogilvy would like nothing more than to be in Augusta next week and he knows what he has to do to get there.

His chances at Houston are surprisingly good despite missing the cut the last three times he has played, four top 10’s in five starts through the middle of the last decade showing he has the game to play the course well.

Previous Houston Open winner Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby will also take some hope into this week’s event though both have struggled at the tournament in recent years.

Appleby has missed the cut each of his last four appearances and Allenby his last three and with both also in less than their best form this year a win seems optimistic.

Matt Jones is the third Australian to have won in Houston and would love to reproduce the form that took him to the title in 2014.

The reigning Australian Open champ has had an indifferent start to his year and the good memories of that week two years go may be just the cure for his ills.

John Senden and Steven Bowditch are the final two Australians to have played this event but neither has a record that suggests a breakthrough is likely this week.

Bowditch has been mired in a horrible slump the past month and has made the cut only once in five appearances at Houston.

Senden, too, has found the going tough in 2016 with just one top 10 in 10 starts and his Houston form reads similarly.

In 10 starts he has made the weekend seven times but his best finish was T18 in 2012.

Rookies Rhein Gibson and Cameron Smith are the final two Australians in the field but both have different pressures this week.

Smith is having his final hit out before making his first Masters appearance while Gibson is trying to get his PGA TOUR career back on track after a difficult start to the season.

Having done the hard work to graduate from the Web.com Tour last year Gibson has struggled on the bigger stage though is a better player than his results to date suggest.

A good result this week would be a huge confidence boost, something Gibson thrives on when playing well.