Booked on a return flight to Australia on Monday, Windred enters this week’s Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Spain 39th in the rankings, the field restricted to the top 45 finishers in the Road to Mallorca.

Only 20 players at the end of the tournament will earn promotion to Europe’s main tour in 2022, Windred to tee off on Thursday knowing that a top-three finish is enough to rise the 19 spots required.

“Regardless of where you are in the top 45, if you finish top-three this week you make enough money to get a tour card,” Windred told the Newcastle Herald.

“I’m obviously looking to do that. You just have to play the best golf you can possibly play. If I can do that I will be right.”

Runner-up at the Challenge de Espana in June, Windred has recorded two top-10 finishes in the past four months and has missed just one cut in 19 starts on tour this year.

Three other Aussies playing for their futures this week are the trio contesting the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School Finals in Georgia.

Guaranteed status on the secondary tour in the US by virtue of qualifying, Jason Scrivener, Justin Warren and Harrison Endycott can all improve their status depending on their performance this week.

The medallist at Final Stage of Q-School receives fully exempt status for the upcoming season, while finishers 2-10 (and ties) receive guaranteed starts through the first 12 events of the season, and finishers 11-40 (and ties) earn guaranteed starts through the first eight events of the season.

Butterfield Bermuda Championship winner Lucas Herbert has been elevated to the marquee grouping alongside defending champion Viktor Hovland and former Masters champ Patrick Reed for the opening two rounds of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba with Minjee Lee to headline the fur Aussies taking part in the Saudi Ladies International on the Ladies European Tour.

Round 1 tee times AEDT

European Tour
Portugal Masters
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal
7.50pm*             Min Woo Lee, Rasmus Hojgaard, Robert MacIntyre
11.30pm             Scott Hend, Ashley Chesters, Benjamin Hebert

Defending champion: George Coetzee
Past Aussie winners: Richard Green (2010)
Top Aussie prediction: Min Woo Lee
TV schedule: Live 11pm-4am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.

PGA Tour
World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
El Camaleon Golf Club, Riviera Maya, Mexico
10.55pm*           Danny Lee, Jonas Blixt, Chris Kirk
12.12am*           Matt Jones, Matthew Wolff, Justin Rose
3.30am Lucas Herbert, Patrick Reed, Viktor Hovland

Defending champion: Viktor Hovland
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Matt Jones
TV schedule: Live 7am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 6am-9am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.

Ladies European Tour
Aramco Saudi Ladies International
Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, Saudi Arabia
4.45pm Amy Walsh, Carolin Kauffmann, Karoline Lund
4.56pm*             Whitney Hillier, Trish Johnson, Lucie Malchirand
5.07pm*             Stephanie Kyriacou, Caroline Hedwall, Laura Davies
5.18pm*             Lydia Ko, Charley Hull, Emily Kristine Pedersen
9.54pm Minjee Lee, Carlota Ciganda, Marianne Skarpnord

Defending champion: Emily Kristine Pedersen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Minjee Lee
TV schedule: Live 9pm-1am Thursday; Live 9pm-2am Friday; Live 10pm-2am Saturday; Live 10pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 507.

Korn Ferry Tour
Qualifying School Finals
The Landings Club (Marshwood Cse), Savannah, Georgia
11.45pm*           Harrison Endycott, Jacob Bergeron, Blayne Barber
11.56pm*           Justin Warren, Callum McNeill, Thomas Rosenmuller
12.40am             Jason Scrivener, Sam Triplett, Brett White

Top Aussie prediction: Jason Scrivener

Challenge Tour
Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A
T-Golf & Country Club, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain
6.37pm Blake Windred, Kristof Ulenaers, Henric Sturehed
7.54pm Daniel Hillier, Daan Huizing, Craig Howie

Defending champion: Ondrej Lieser
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred

Legends Tour
Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open
San Domenico Golf, Italy
7.30pm Michael Campbell, Roger Chapman, Barry Lane
8.10pm Michael Long, Thomas Gogele, Andrew Raitt
8.30pm Peter Fowler, Miguel Angel Martin, Gary Wolstenholme

Defending champion: Barry Lane (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Terry Gale (2004)
Top Aussie prediction: Peter Fowler

Japan Golf Tour
Mynavi ABC Championship
ABC Golf Club, Hyogo
11.20am             Todd Sinnott, Taiga Semikawa (a), Shunsuke Sonoda
11.55am*           David Bransdon, Jay Choi, Koki Shiomi
12.20pm             Anthony Quayle, Kaito Onishi, Katsumasa Miyamoto
12.25pm*           Dylan Perry, Daijiro Izumida, Jbe Kruger

Defending champion: Jung-gon Hwang (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Brian Jones (1989), Brendan Jones (2002)
Top Aussie prediction: Dylan Perry

Champions Tour
Timbertech Championship
The Old Course at Broken Sound, Boca Raton, Florida
Aussies in the field: Stephen Leaney, Rod Pampling

Defending champion: Darren Clarke
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rod Pampling
TV schedule: Live 4am-7am Saturday; 9am-11am Sunday; 9am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 503.