A 14-strong contingent of Aussies will be looking to complete a rare trifecta when they tee it up in the Clearwater Bay Open on Thursday, the final event of the PGA Tour-China 2018 schedule.

The top five on the Order of Merit at the conclusion of the Clearwater Bay Open at the spectacular Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club in Hong Kong will earn tickets to the Web.com Tour in 2019 with Kiwi Nick Voke currently sitting in fifth spot and Aussie Max McCardle 15th.

Given the events of 12 months ago McCardle would be well served hanging around defending champion James Marchesani prior to Thursday’s first round after the Victorian picked the brains of 2016 champion Daniel Nisbet during the pro-am.

“I played behind Dan in the pro-am, and when we stopped between holes, we went back and forth with a few ideas about where to hit it, where not to hit it,” Marchesani said following his win last year.

“It was good to get a couple of tips. Hopefully I’ll come back next year and defend or another Aussie might pip me,” the 27-year-old added perhaps prophetically.

With the recent success of Aussie pros in the event it’s not surprising there are so many at Clearwater this week, the numbers bolstered by the qualification of two Hong Kong-based Aussies on Monday along with Kiwi Shane Kuiti and Brisbane-based Hong Kong amateur Matthew Cheung.

As Director of Golf at Clearwater Bay, no one will know the layout better than Grant Gibson who qualified courtesy of his round of even-par 72 on Monday, eight shots short of his best round at the course where he has been based for the past decade.

Winner of the 2015 Hong Kong PGA Order of Merit, Cohuna-raised Nathan Goulding missed out in the Monday qualifier but was awarded a sponsor’s exemption, meaning he will need to take a week off from running the junior golf academy program at Clearwater Bay.

Marchesani is back to defend his title and is joined by China Tour regulars in McCardle, Jack Munro, James Gibellini, Andrew Schonewille, Kevin Yuan, DJ Loypur, Deyen Lawson, Sam Earl, Sean Underwood, Peter Martin and Corey Hale.

Joining Voke and Kuiti representing New Zealand this week are Luke Toomey and Campbell Rawson.

The chase for Web.com Tour cards also continues on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica this week with Harrison Endycott and Ryan Ruffels lining up in a Volvo Abierto de Chile 2018 field that also boasts two-time Major champion Angel Cabrera and Chilean Felipe Aguilar.

Endycott currently sits 15th on the Order of Merit and with two strong results in the next two weeks can advance straight to Final Stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School and potentially earn a full card for 2019.

Ruffels is making his eighth appearance on the Latinoamerica tour this year with a best finish of tied for 11th at both the Costa Rica Classic and Molino Cañuelas Championship.