Bryden Macpherson will continue his China Tour Order of Merit battle with Korea’s Rak Hyun Cho when the pair tee up at this week’s Binhai Forest Tianjin Open in the country’s north.

The two players have separated themselves from the pack at the top of the standings after both made blistering starts to the season.

Cho currently holds a lead of approximately AU$36,000 over Macpherson with AU$46,000 on offer for victory this week.

The Korean has won twice already this season in six starts with two other top 10 results while Macpherson has one victory and three top 10s.

The former British Amateur champion has been one of the China Tour’s most dominant performers in recent years with three wins and a host of top 10 finishes.

He is one of 14 Australasians in this week’s field, three of those also inside the top 10 on the Order of Merit.

New Zealand’s Josh Geary is sixth in earnings while Deyen Lawson is fifth and Maverick Antcliff eighth.

Those three will be joined by Mitchell Brown, Corey Hale, Peter Martin, Kevin Yuan, Max McCardle, Jack Munro, Daniel Nisbet, Christopher Wood and New Zealanders Fraser Wilkin and Daniel Pearce.