The 40-year-old virgin, Brett Jones jokingly calls himself. Taller, leaner and not quite afflicted with the same problem facing Steve Carell in the movie, scriptwriters could do worse than take a look at his story.

Electrician by trade. Left Australia for the United States after and he and his wife, pursuing a pharmaceutical career, won green cards in a lottery, of all things.

Toiled in the relative obscurity as a head professional at an exclusive course in New Jersey, fittingly named Due Process Stable Golf Club. Not interested in trying his hand on the tour. Didn't want a bar of it.

Seemingly down to one last chance to qualify for a major tournament. Holed an impossible bunker shot on the second last hole. Made it. Teed up with world No.1 Jordan Spieth in a US PGA practice round. Too scared to tell organisers to remove the American flag next to his name and actually put the southern cross in its place.

You couldn't make it up, could you?

"The 40-year-old virgin or the 40-year-old rookie," the father-of-two laughs of his golfing rise, more than 20 years in the offing that will see him make his Australian Open debut on Thursday. "I've always enjoyed it, this is just on a different level."

But maybe not on the same level as Whistling Straits, where like he did on Tuesday at The Australian Golf Club he played a practice round with Spieth and his younger brother Matt Jones, a more familiar name to Australian golf fans as a US Tour regular.

"It was five deep on every hole [at Whistling Straits]," Brett shrugs after practising in front of just a handful of fans in Sydney. "The first tee [on the first round] I was expecting it to be a lot worse, but I managed to hit one down the fairway and then it was done."

Hidden amongst Brett's gallery at the US PGA, best remembered for compatriot Jason Day's win, was brother Matt. The pair reason they only see each other a couple of times a year - if they're lucky - but have made the trip back to Sydney as a special postscript to being the first Australian brothers to play alongside each other in a modern day major championship.

It has been 20 years since a 15-year-old Matt first played The Australian, a course he has been a member of ever since. But there is more than that little milestone to celebrate this week.

"For Brett to play in a major championship - let alone be your first tournament - on the PGA Tour would have been very special," Matt said. "We had a lot of friends and family there and we all stayed in the same house together which was fun. It's probably why I played well.

"I left to go to college when I was 18 and Brett didn't start picking up golf again until he was probably 20. It was always high on my priorities, but Brett was late to the party. It's worked out to where we are now."

Keeping up with the Jones' will be somewhat of an artform this week. While Brett lamented his wife and two kids won't be able to see him make an Australian Open bow in person, the demand for tickets hasn't stopped.

"My uncle took us golfing nearly every day during the summer school break and we played all the open days around the area," Brett said. "There was a huge family influence there. We can't get enough tickets. A lot of family, in-laws, aunties and uncles, cousins and all our friends from growing up. It will be huge."

As for Matt? Whenever he is back in Australia it is to win. And despite watching Spieth up close and personal on Tuesday nothing has changed - except he now has his brother in tow.

"He has a few more [wins] than me in the US," Matt laughed. "[But] my goal coming here - as is every year - is to win this event. Especially on this golf course and I've been a member here for a very long time so it would be even more special to win it. It will be tough and the field has a lot of quality players this week, but I'll play like I know I can."