In a year where not a lot has gone right for Jason Day the former World Number 1 heads to this week’s BMW Championship in Chicago with some good vibes on his side.

Day has seemingly taken two steps forward and one step back throughout 2017 but as the last man to win this tournament at this venue, and with a record score, he will be one to watch this week.

Day, one of three Australians to make it into the 70-man field for the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs at Conway Farms, shot a record 22-under here in 2015 to win by six.

The victory also propelled him to the World Number 1 ranking, the realisation of a lifelong dream and one of his proudest career moments, and will be front of mind for the Queenslander as play gets underway Thursday.

Day opened with 61-63 two years ago and while he hasn’t played that sort of golf consistently this season he has shown flashes of brilliance, including last start at the Dell Technologies event in Boston.

An opening 75 had him in danger of missing the cut at TPC Boston but he fought back with scores of 69-70-66 to claw his way into the top-25.

Six birdies in his first nine holes Sunday suggest his best isn’t far off and a return to the site of one of his most dominant performances may well be the spark required to produce a big finish to the year.

Day is without a victory since the 2016 PLAYERS Championship and if he is to be a genuine chance to win the FedEx Cup a win this week is all but mandatory.

He currently sits 28^th in the standings and with only 30 qualifying he is not yet guaranteed to advance to the TOUR Championship at East Lake, his week in Chicago shaping as an all or nothing affair.

While Day has much to do to make himself part of the conversation for the $10 million finale Marc Leishman is within touching distance of being among the favourites.

The top five heading to Atlanta are in the driver’s seat to win the FedEx Cup and Leishman heads to Chicago in seventh place and with a big opportunity to push his way into the top echelon.

There was much made of his back-9 struggles on Sunday at TPC Boston, where he fell from the lead to third place, but Leishman is capable of shrugging off such disappointment and contending again this week.

He has played at Conway Farms just once previously for a T39 finish in 2013 but is a vastly improved player since then and his confidence is high in the midst of his best year as a Professional.

With the increased FedEx Cup points on offer in the playoff events another top five this week would likely be enough to put him amongst the top five in points and make him a legitimate contender for the $10 million bonus pool in Georgia.

For a player who has spent much of his PGA TOUR career in the shadows of Day and Adam Scott it would be a remarkable achievement were he to become the first Australian to win the game’s richest prize.

The Warrnambool native has shown himself to be a big event player on more than one occasion and his laid back nature is ideally suited to the pressure cooker he will face in the next fortnight.

The third Australian to tee up this week is Queensland’s Cameron Smith who heads to Chicago in 56^th position on the FedEx Cup points table and needing a high finish to advance to East Lake.

His form in the opening two events has been less than his best with two missed cuts but irrespective of whether he makes it to the final event or not, his 2017 season can only be considered a resounding success.

The 24-year-old has shown a steady progression at each stage of his still young Professional career and this season has been another stepping stone.

Having lost his privileges at the end of last season Smith played his way back to the TOUR via the Web.com Finals then notched his first victory alongside Jonas Blixt at the Zurich teams event in April.

To have made it to the third of the four play-off events is a significant achievement and Smith can once again look back on his year knowing his game has continued to improve.