Brazel is among the 19-strong Aussie contingent teeing it up at the Asian Tour’s International Series Morocco this week, the first time the event has been held since Jazz Janewattananond triumphed two years ago.

Including the co-sanctioned New Zealand Open, it is Brazel’s fourth start on the Asian Tour in 2024 having regained his card by finishing 16th at Final Stage of Q School in January.

That performance was a continuation of good form on home soil that yielded a top-10 finish at the ISPHS HANDA Australian Open in Sydney and gave the 45-year-old the belief that he can still compete at the highest level.

Battling the same groin injury that has sidelined Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster, Brazel turned to 2000 Olympian Matt Buckley earlier this year to not only aid injury prevention, but add the speed that’s needed to keep up in the modern game.

“I’ve never really been one to go to the gym or look after my body that well so enlisted a guy that I’ve known for 25 years,” said Brazel of Buckley, an exercise physiologist and co-owner of Pure Fitness Alstonville in northern New South Wales.

“I’ve only been doing it the last three months or so and I’m just starting to see some benefits of it.

“We generally do a morning session and then I go and practice in the afternoon. I can definitely see a correlation between having that dynamic warmup prior to practice and how that makes a huge difference to the way I swing the club and the pace at which the club moves.

“It’s that mental side of it too, just a different health aspect to it, feeling better within myself for actually doing it.”

The 2016 Hong Kong Open remains Brazel’s lone victory on a major tour yet he has been a perennial contender both on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour.

He has top-10 finishes in both marquee Australian events the past two years and was tied for ninth at the World City Championship in Hong Kong in March last year.

It’s been enough to convince him that, when fit, his best remains good enough.

“The end of the Aussie summer last year was probably a fair indication of where I’m at with my golf,” said Brazel.

“I put a fair bit of effort into trying to have a good summer here in Australia and I really enjoyed that.

“I didn’t play so well at the Aussie PGA on the final day, but the Aussie Open was solid enough.

“Golf game’s good, mentally I’m good. I still feel like I can compete, so I’m going to keep plodding along while ever I feel like I can be competitive.”

On the back of a top-10 finish at the Italian Open 2023 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner David Micheluzzi leads the five-strong Aussie charge at the BMW International Open in Germany and LPGA Tour player Stephanie Kyriacou joins Kirsten Rudgeley and Whitney Hillier at the Aramco Team Series event in London.

Round 1 tee times AEST

PGA TOUR
John Deere Classic
TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois
11:46pm*         Harrison Endycott
3:49am            Jason Day

Defending champion: Sepp Straka
Past Aussie winners: Mark Hensby (2004), John Senden (2006)
Prize money: $US8 million
TV times: Live 2am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 2am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

DP World Tour
BMW International Open
Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany
4pm*               Ryan Fox (NZ)=
4:30pm            Jason Scrivener
4:30pm*          Daniel Hillier (NZ)
4:40pm            Sam Jones (NZ)
5:10pm            Haydn Barron
5:10pm*          Tom Power Horan
5:20pm*          David Micheluzzi
5:30pm            Andrew Martin

Defending champion: Thriston Lawrence
Past Aussie winners: Peter Fowler (1993)
Prize money: $US2.5 million
TV times: Live 8:30pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 11pm-2am Saturday; Live 9pm-2am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

Asian Tour
International Series Morocco
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Red Course), Morocco
4:20pm*          Brendan Jones
4:30pm*          Travis Smyth
4:50pm*          Ben Campbell (NZ)
5:10pm            Kevin Yuan
5:20pm            Jed Morgan
5:30pm            Maverick Antcliff
5:40pm            Deyen Lawson
6pm                 Justin Warren
9:20pm            Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
9:30pm*          Aaron Wilkin
9:40pm            Wade Ormsby
10pm               Scott Hend
10pm*             Harrison Crowe
10:10pm          Jack Thompson
10:20pm          Todd Sinnott
10:20pm*         Andrew Dodt
10:30pm*         Zach Murray
10:40pm          Sam Brazel
10:40pm*         Marcus Fraser
11:10pm*         Lachlan Barker
11:20pm          Doug Klein

Defending champion: Jazz Janewattananond (2022)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: Live 11pm-3am Thursday; Live 12:10am-3am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 11pm-1am Saturday on Fox Sports 507; 8am-10am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – London
Centurion Club, London
4:51pm            Kirsten Rudgeley
9:39pm            Stephanie Kyriacou, Momoka Kobori (NZ)
10:27pm          Whitney Hillier

Defending champion: Nelly Korda
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US500,000
TV times: Live 12:30am-4:30am Thursday on Fox Sports 503; Live 12:30am-4.30am Friday; Live 9:30pm-1:30am Friday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Japan Golf Tour
Japan Professional Golf Championship
Fuji Country Kani Club (Shino Cse), Gifu
8:55am            Brad Kennedy
9:05am            Michael Hendry (NZ)

Defending champion: Kensei Hirata
Past Aussie winners: Adam Bland (2015)
Prize money: ¥150 million

LET Access Series
PGA Championship Gothenburg
Albatross GolfKlubb, Sweden
4:44pm            Kelsey Bennett
5:17pm            Munchin Keh (NZ)
5:28pm            Wenyung Keh (NZ)
9:12pm            Hanee Song (NZ)

Defending champion: Chiara Tamburlini
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €40,000