Greg Norman returns to tournament fare in the Australian Open in Adelaide today after his lengthy recuperation from major shoulder surgery and is typically upbeat about his chances.

Norman (43), is back on the trail eight months after shoulder surgery following the US Masters, and even though he is not at his peak local bookmakers have him favourite to beat Fred Couples, Nick Faldo, John Huston and Billy Mayfair at Royal Adelaide.

"If I am playing in a tournament, I'm playing to win, irrespective of what the situation is," said Norman. "I'll be going to the first tee with the objective of winning."

Norman, looking for his sixth national Open, played with compatriot Steve Elkington to win the Shark Shootout last month followed by his uneventful role in the Skins Game last weekend.

But for Norman his comeback gathers pace at the Royal Adelaide course over the next four days as a build-up to next week's Presidents Cup showdown between an International team and the United States at Royal Melbourne.

Meanwhile, six-time major winner Faldo will test his emergence from a golfing abyss around what has been described as a brutal course.

Royal Adelaide, a 6,015-yard, par-73 layout, has been turned into a monster by Australian golf's elder statesman Peter Thomson, whose course remodelling has been a hot topic in the lead up to today's opening round.

The five-time British Open champion and non-playing captain of the International team for next week's Presidents Cup has lengthened the course, added bunkers and narrowed landing zones.

One local professional said of the toughened "Royal Terror": "Thomson's lost his marbles. I've got more chance of winning the lottery than staying on a fairway here."

But Faldo (41), who broke his bad run by teaming up with David Carter to win last month's World Cup for England, disagrees.

"I have no criticisms of the course, I think it's awesome, it's the most challenging 18 holes I've played on. The actual golf course is brilliant," he said.

Faldo, despite all his troubles on and off the course, never lost the belief that he would recapture the form that made him one of the game's fiercest competitors.

"I knew it was there. I just had to weave my way through it all," he said. Once you been through a downtime, once you come out of it, you believe you're going to be better, because it's always the experience of battling and grinding and dealing with situations."