Coming off his best ever result on the Web.com Tour Steve Allan leads a strong Australian challenge into this week’s Brasil Championship in Sao Paolo.

Allan’s T2 finish in extremely windy conditions last week will give him plenty of confidence heading to the fourth tournament of the year, especially his final round 71 which was bettered by only four players on the day.

Now standing in the top 10 on the money list the Victorian has an excellent chance to earn his way back to the PGA TOUR for the first time since 2009 if he can maintain some consistent form in coming months.

Also making a good start to earning PGA TOUR rights for 2016 are Mathew Goggin, whose win in the first event of the season will almost certainly see him qualify, and rookie Oliver Goss.

Goss will be keen to atone for a poor finish last week where he made triply bogey on the par-5 72nd hole to drop into a share of 10th.

He wasn’t the only player to struggle on Sunday in the extreme winds but having opened with a brilliant 64 to share the lead after one round it was a disappointing way to end the week.

The 20-year-old has shown plenty of game in his short career and only lacks week in week out consistency to become genuinely world class.

Goss, Allan and Goggin are among 14 Australians who will tee up this week. They are joined in the field by Nick Flanagan, Alistair Presnell, Bronson La’Cassie, Scott Gardiner, Ash Hall, Brett Drewitt, Bryden

Macpherson, James Nitties, Adam Crawford, Aron Price and Rhein Gibson.

Flanagan is making his first start of the 2015 season playing on a medical exemption after surgery on his left thumb last year.

It’s been a bleak two seasons for the former US Amateur champ who tried to play through the pain for much of 2013 before opting for surgery in April last year.

Flanagan had planned to begin his season in January but tweeted prior to the Panama Claro tournament that injury had forced him to withdraw.