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Golf in Oz is like drinking beer

Melbourne - Playing golf in Australia is no different to playing at home with friends while throwing back a few beers, according to Boo Weekley, who plans to spend time fishing Down Under after battling Adam Scott at the Australian Masters.

The laid-back American will appear at all three of the nation's marquee tournaments, and after playing the Masters in Melbourne, will head to Sydney for next week's Australian Open before finishing off on the Gold Coast at the Australian PGA Championship.

Florida-born Weekley feels a natural affinity with Australians, and will join with local golfer Steven Bowditch for a fishing trip before inviting the US Tour regular for some hunting back in the States.

"I think everybody on the PGA Tour should have the opportunity to come over here and play, at least do it one time," the gregarious 41-year-old told reporters on Wednesday at Metropolitan Golf Club, the Masters venue on Melbourne's famed 'sandbelt'.

"This is a dream for me come true to come over here.

"I finally got to do it and now it's something I can check off my list.

"I'm going to go out and play the best I can play.

"I don't think about it as I'm over here in Australia playing golf as I am sitting at my house playing golf with my buddies drinking beer. It's all the same, just golf."

A three-time winner on the US Tour and a former Ryder Cup player, Weekley's sense of humour has come in handy in recent years, given a litany of shoulder problems that have cut his schedule and forced him to withdraw midway through the US PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Weekley returned to form with a runnerup finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, earlier this month and said he was feeling "healthy" again.

He remained hopeful of staying fit enough to make a bid for the United States' team for the Presidents Cup in Incheon, South Korea in 2015, but was not putting pressure on himself.

"I don't really worry about it," he said.

"I mean, I'm here to satisfy myself, my family, and when I'm done with golf, which I hope is in about four or five years from now and I'll go home and fish and hunt all day and maybe come over here and visit and shoot me some kangaroos and catch some fish and whatever else."

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