As the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia 2024/2025 season reaches its conclusion at The National Tournament this week, a variety of opportunities and exemptions await those who finish prominently on the Order of Merit.

Jack Buchanan and Anthony Quayle shape as the two with most to gain.

Elvis Smylie has secured the Order of Merit title but, as the winner of the co-sanctioned BMW Australian PGA Championship, is now exempt on the DP World Tour until the end of the 2027 season.

NZ Open champion Ryan Peake sits second on the Order of Merit and is guaranteed one of the three DP World Tour cards on offer for the top three not otherwise exempt.

Which is where it gets tricky.

Three-time DP World Tour winner Lucas Herbert and The Open champion of three years ago, Cameron Smith, both qualify for the Order of Merit having played the minimum four events and currently sit third and fourth.

Which leaves Buchanan (No.5) and Quayle (No.6).

Given Herbert is not in the field this week, either can leapfrog into third spot with victory on Sunday.

Circumstances could dictate that both might earn DP World Tour status without a win this week, but confirmation could be weeks in the waiting.

For two players both looking to launch their international careers, doors are about to open regardless of what happens at The National.

Winner of the WA PGA championship and Webex Players Series South Australia, Buchanan is exempt into 10 International Series events on the Asian Tour and believes he now has the grounding to take his game to the world.

“If someone told me I did what I did this season, I probably wouldn’t believe them,” said Buchanan, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Tuesday.

“I always have a bit of self-belief, but as my official first rookie year on the Aussie Tour, having two wins and some other good results in some big events is a pretty good achievement.

“I’m not too sure how it all works with the Order of Merit stuff, but I’m in a pretty good position to where a win this week would pretty likely get me a European Tour card.

“A lot of people would tell you they want to be world No.1 or whatever, but I always just want to play big events and have big moments in big events, wherever that may take me.”

After seven years playing the Japan Golf Tour, Quayle hit reset and returned to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia late last year.

With seven top-five finishes from his past 12 starts, the 30-year-old can see a path to pursue his career either in Europe or in the US.

“The path I was going down in Japan was not a productive one,” said Quayle, who needs all 190 points awarded to the winner this week to surpass Herbert and Smith. He trails Buchanan by 63 points.

“It was hard to really see any kind of progress being made or love of the game really. It was just really difficult.

“Right now, the pathway is not as clear or straightforward as what you might like it to be, but I know that there will be opportunities. I just have to be a bit more open-minded with it.

“Since I finished third at the Aussie PGA, I’ve already got some (DP World Tour) points that don’t show up on the moneylist now, but they kind of count. With the Alfred Dunhill Links, that’ll be a DP event and if I play well that week, I might rack up a few more points.

“I’ll be doing the US Open and British Open final qualifying, so if I can get into one of those, there’s also a lot of points on offer there.

“There’s still some avenues. If I play how I’m playing at the moment, I feel like it’ll open some doors.”

In addition to the three DP World Tour cards, the top 10 Order of Merit finishers earn an exemption into the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, the leading five players get a spot at the Singapore Classic and Hero Indian Open next year and there are exemptions into Final Stage of Qualifying Schools for the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour and Asian Tour.

Round 1 tees off at 8:10am on Thursday morning at The National’s Gunnamatta Course.

The final two rounds are broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 3pm-6pm Saturday and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.