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John Senden had a rare air swing on the tee at the Australian PGA Championship after the shaft of his driver snapped.

A classy John Senden has copped his dose of misfortune on the chin after an air swing at the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast got the golf world talking.

Sitting at two-under after eight holes, Senden didn't make contact with his driver on the ball after the shaft flexed and snapped in the grip on his downswing, pinching him in the process.

The rare sight, which left Senden off balance and wringing his right hand, stunned commentators and led to a long discussion with the rules official.

As social media lit up with vision of the incident, Senden appeared to argue unsuccessfully that, on feeling the club snap, he attempted to pull out of the shot.

It was a view shared by playing partner and fellow Australian veteran Geoff Ogilvy, who expressed his disgust when the rules official suggested the air swing would count as a shot.

Without another driver in his bag, the former PGA Tour campaigner was forced to remove the tee, drop the ball on the tee box and hit an iron.

There was no penalty but the shot counted as Senden's second and he went on to record a bogey on a par-five ninth hole that produced seven eagles and rated as the easiest of the day.

With Senden's spare shafts in Brisbane he was forced to use a three-wood for the remaining 10 holes, which he navigated well until a bogey on the last for an even-par round.

"Unfortunately that counts as one stroke," he said post-round.

"I've seen it happen before to other players but first time it's happened to me in a tournament," he said.

"It actually spooked me a bit.

"I jammed my finger ... pinched it a bit and I was feeling quite the discomfort and had to learn how to go with the three wood from there."

Senden laboured in the scorer's hut but emerged without complaint.

"There's no exception, it's just the rule, you can't argue against the rule," he said.

"When you intend to hit a shot and you don't hit it it's one stroke, that's the way it goes."