Brent Snedeker might be one of few marquee attractions at the Australian PGA Championships but the American insists it is just about anyone's tournament at a new-look Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
The big names have largely shunned this year's PGA title, which begin on Thursday, with Snedeker the highest-ranked player at 38 in the world and just two others in the field - Queenslander John Senden and Swede David Lingmerth - inside the top 100.
There is a spattering of quality overseas names such as Scott Jamieson and Edoardo Molinari among 25 players off the European Tour, which is co-sanctioning the event for the first time this year, along with an additional 24 from South Africa's Sunshine Tour.
But there is no top-class player in the field, which should give Snedeker every opportunity to claim a sizeable chunk of the $1.75 million prizemoney on offer.
Yet the 34-year-old remains wary of a redesigned back nine and a pack of "hungry" young locals, for whom the huge carrot of automatic membership on the European Tour is on offer if they can break through for an upset.
"It's honestly an honour those guys look at me to think they're going to need to knock me off," Snedeker said.
"I see a bunch of young Australian kids that are hungry, great players and will be tough to beat as well.
"The field's pretty strong, there's some great talented guys in this field - it's definitely by no means a one-horse race."
Snedeker comes to Royal Pines on the back of some indifferent form, having missed his last two cuts and failed to crack the top 10 in any event since June.
He shares co-favouritism with Senden, who finished runner-up to Peter Senior at the Australian Masters and 13th at the Australian Open.
Two-time winner Greg Chalmers is the defending champion, having last year edged out Adam Scott and Wade Ormsby in a marathon three-man playoff.
Senden, the top-ranked Australian, said he felt compelled to go against the grain of high-profile players and commit to Royal Pines because he wanted to "give back" to the sport.
"I decided I wanted to support the Australian tour," he said.
"Because it is our national PGA championship and a fabulous tournament to win.
"I've seen so many great players, Greg Norman, Peter Senior, Peter Lonard and all those guys that have won all the three and hopefully one day I could possibly put myself in with those names.
"That's the reasons why we come home and play at all three."
Australia's other main hope is Cameron Smith, the 22-year-old from Brisbane who is heading into his first full year on the US PGA Tour on the back of his heroic fourth-placed finish as a qualifier at the US Open.
2015 AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
When: Dec 3-6
Venue: Royal Pines, Gold Coast
Prizemoney: $1.75 million
Par: 72
Co-sanctioned with European Tour
Defending champion: Greg Chalmers
Top drawcards: Brandt Snedeker, David Lingmerth, John Senden, Cameron Smith, Brett Rumford.
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