On the eve of his first appearance on home soil in four years, the 30-year-old has boldly declared climbing world golf's summit again is a matter of "when" and not "if" as he prepares to tee off in the Australian Open starting on Thursday.

And he's taking inspiration from compatriot and fellow Queenslander Norman, who held the world's top ranking for 331 weeks during his storied career and famously told Day he wants him to be recognised as the planet's best for 332.

"I want to do more than just get back to No.1, I want to get back to No.1 and stay there for a long time," said Day, who has slipped to No.12.

"You look at Greg Norman for instance. He got back there and re-energised himself, motivated himself to get back to work and he stayed there for 331 weeks. That's what people remember the most of how dominant [he was]. People know that guy was No.1 for 331 weeks, that's legendary stuff.

"That's what I want to be able to do. I want to get back there and know at some point in my era or my career that I dominated over time. I'm not so much worried about getting back there, I need to focus on getting back there and dominating."

Day's long-anticipated homecoming comes on the back of an emotional year in which his mother Dening was diagnosed with lung cancer - her latest scans are clear - and he relieved coach Col Swatton of his long-time caddie duties in the middle ofhis first winless year since 2013.

Day's good friend and schoolmate Luke Reardon will be on his bag this week - and perhaps permanently as they seek to formalise a visa for Reardon.

Day said he didn't deal with the expectation that comes with being No.1 when he reached the milestone in 2015.

"This off-year was kind of a good kick in the butt, I would say, to know that you can't take things for granted even if you are at the top of the mountain," Day said.

"The analogy I use is I would be standing in the middle of a circle and you have media over here, family over here, my agent over here, my coach over here, fans over here, tournaments over here ... everyone is trying to pull me in different directions. It's hard to give time.

"You've got to understand what you did to get there was the hard work and dedication to the craft you're trying to win at. That's what got you there in the first place. If you focus on playing golf you'll stay there for a very long time.

"I'm learning to say "no" politely to make sure I can do it. I struggled with trying to give myself time to really understand what it meant to be No.1 in the world.

"There's no use for me if I'm No.50 in the world. It doesn't do me any good and it doesn't do Australian golf any good if I'm way back there. I think it does good for Australian golf if I'm at the top of the world rankings, playing well and dominating."

Day and world No.2 Jordan Spieth, who has already won the Stonehaven Cup twice and returns to defend his crown won at Royal Sydney last year, will be the star attractions at The Australian Golf Club this week.

Spieth is due to arrive in Sydney on Tuesday.

Day said a litany of injuries - including a degenerative back complaint that forced him to withdraw from the BMW Championship last year - will always need to be managed.

But there will be no complaints about his body this week after he raced through nine holes at The Australian on a wet Monday morning.

"When I first started playing golf - I always talk about Augusta National and how I watched Tiger [Woods] win a Masters - but even before that I was watching the Australian Open and the summer of golf," Day said.

"That's all I was watching, the Australian Open. It's big, to have in your collection the Stonehaven Cup is huge for me. I honestly believe I will get one one day. I have to make sure I get to that position where I give myself the opportunity."