It’s only two events into the season but already Bryden Macpherson finds himself locked in a battle royal for the Order of Merit title on the new look China Tour.

Macpherson and Korea’s Rak Hyun Cho have won one event each and have almost double the earnings of third placed Daihan Lee of Korea.

Cho holds a slender advantage as he finished outright second to Macpherson at last week’s Fragrant Hills tournament while the Australian was part of a three-way tie for second behind Cho the previous week.

Macpherson has enjoyed great success in China, his playoff victory last week his third win since the circuit began in 2014.

Two wins late in the 2015 season saw the former British amateur champion win the Order of Merit and full status on the Web.com Tour and he is again proving a dominant force in the region.

Macpherson and Cho will lock horns again this week at the Changbai Shan Wanda Open, the field also featuring 11 other Australians.

While Macpherson is the standout performer early in the season fellow Victorian Deyen Lawson is also performing well in his first tilt at the China Tour.

Lawson has back to back top-10’s in his first two starts and is fourth on the Order of Merit after a close call last week where he shared the lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

A poor back-9 saw him finish one shot out of the play-off but in current form he looks a likely winner sooner than later.

Also in the field this week are Max McCardle, James Gibellini, Maverick Antcliff, Austin Bautista, Mitchell Brown, Corey Hale, Peter Martin, Lincoln Tighe, Christopher Wood and Kevin Yuan.

McCardle, who enjoyed some success in China in 2016 with four top-10’s in nine tournaments, has made a good start to the 2017 season with a T6 finish in his lone appearance to date to be T10 on the Order of Merit already.

Please note that since the China Tour is no longer associated with the PGA TOUR, the pathway to the Web.com Tour is also no longer in effect.