Adam Bland will be one of nine
Australasians hoping history repeats when he defends his Japan PGA Championship
title at the Hokkaido Classic Golf Club this week.

Bland became the first player from this
region to claim the title when he posted his maiden Japan Tour title by three strokes
last year, the victory part of a solid season which saw him eventually finish
top Australasian on the money list.

The tournament, one of the more prestigious
on the Japan circuit, has moved venues this year but Bland will take some
confidence into the week as he builds on a run of seven consecutive made cuts.

The left hander has posted only one top-10
result in 2016, a T3 three starts ago, but his golf has been consistent with
not much improvement required to become a regular contender.

Bland is joined in this week’s field by
Matt Griffin, Brendan Jones, Kurt Barnes, Scott Strange, Won Joon Lee, Paul
Sheehan, Brad Kennedy and New Zealand’s Michael Hendry.

Hendry and Brad Kennedy have been the
standout performers of recent weeks in Japan and both will like their chances
this week.

Hendry has posted four consecutive top-10
finishes leading into this week, three of those top-5’s including
a runner-up result three weeks ago.

Kennedy has been similarly impressive with
three top-10’s in his last five starts, a T3 a fortnight ago at the ISPS Handa
Global Cup the pick of his results.

Of the rest only Won Joon Lee made the cut
at last week’s Sega Sammy Cup while the rest have yet to find top gear this
season.

Scott Strange has found the going tough
since a runner-up finish at the Kansai Open in May while Australia’s most
successful Japan Tour player, Brendan Jones, has just one top-10 for the year.

Kurt Barnes has made three cuts in seven
starts with a best finish of T11 in April while Matt Griffin has made seven of
eight cuts for the year but has just one top-10 to show for it.