A spot in the 2020 WGC-Fed Ex St Jude Invitational is one of the added incentives for the 13 Australians taking part in this week’s BNI Indonesian Masters, the penultimate and flagship event of the Asian Tour in 2019.
Veteran Marcus Fraser will be the first of the Aussies in action when he begins his opening round at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club in Jakarta at 10.40am AEDT with 12 countrymen also chasing a lucrative prize.
On top of the $US750,000 prize money, a spot at a gathering of world elite in Memphis and no less than 20 Official World Golf Ranking points for the winner, the Indonesian Masters also serves as the third leg of the Panasonic Swing that comes with an additional $150,000 to be distributed among the top three finishers, Terry Pilkadaris currently the best of the Australians in sixth position.
Pilkadaris, Scott Hend, Andrew Dodt, Travis Smyth and Jake Higginbottom all sit within the top 50 of the Habitat for Humanity Standings with West Australian Daniel Fox able to wrap up his card for 2020 if he can build on his current position of 58th.
With limited status in Europe next year Sam Brazel can ensure some additional job security if he can advance from his current position of 63rd with Fraser (76th), Andrew Martin (77th) and David Gleeson (95th) in need of a good week to move inside the top 60.
Courtesy of his win at the Maybank Championship earlier in the season Hend is all but guaranteed to finish the year in second position on the Order of Merit, Jazz Janewattananond already crowned the Asian Tour No.1 for 2019.
BNI Indonesian Masters Round 1 Tee Times (AEDT)
Royale Jakarta Golf Club, Jakarta, Indonesia
10.40am* Marcus Fraser, Berry Henson, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit
11am David Gleeson, Tomoharu Otsuki, Seukhyun Baek
11.10am Daniel Fox, Jack Harrison, Siddikur Rahman
11.20am Sam Brazel, Lu Wei-chih, Danthai Boonma
11.40am* Andrew Dodt, Jake Higginbottom, Poom Pattaropong
3.10pm Andrew Martin, Johannes Veerman, Arjun Atwal
3.20pm* Terry Pilkadaris, Paul Peterson, Heungchol Joo
3.40pm* Adam Blyth, Doyeob Mun, Daisuke Matsubara
3.50pm* Josh Younger, Natipong Srithong, Shohei Hasegawa
4pm Scott Hend, John Catlin, Jazz Janewattananond
4.20pm* Travis Smyth, Jyoti Randhawa, Nitithorn Thippong
4.40pm* Steven Jeffress, Juvic Pagunsan, Hamzah Rahmadi