It will be an emotional return to the Montreux Golf and Country Club for Australia’s Greg Chalmers this week as he defends a PGA TOUR title for the first time in his career.

A multiple winner in Australia since turning Professional in 1995, it took the likeable left hander 386 tournament to hoist his first trophy on the world’s premiere circuit and defending this week is sure to bring back the memories flooding back.

Chalmers beat long hitting Gary Woodland to the line last year in the modified stableford scoring format, his 72nd hole eagle one of the most enduring memories of the 2016 season.

Joining Chalmers this week will be 10 other Australasians for a tournament that is significant to the immediate playing future of many in the field.

This tournament and the Wyndham Championship are the final full field events of the season and jockeying for positions on the FedEx Cup standings is reaching fever pitch.

Players inside the top-125 after Wyndham secure their playing rights for the 2018 season while those finishing 126-200 have the opportunity to play the four tournament Finals Series and earn one of 25 available cards.

Another former winner of this tournament, Geoff Ogilvy, is among those hovering close to the number as he sits 121st in the standings and needs a decent showing this week.

His 2014 victory was his last on the TOUR but he will have many good memories from that performance as he set the tournament scoring record on his way to the title.

The two other Australians who need a strong finish to the season are Cameron Percy and Matt Jones, Percy lurking at 135th on the FedEx Cup and Jones 145th.

Percy has teed up in Reno four times and while he missed the cut in his first three appearances came to terms with the course and format in 2016 when T13.

A disappointing T70 in Canada last week broke a run of back to back top-15 results and the Victorian knows he needs a strong result this week to gain full playing rights next year.

The task is somewhat more difficult for Matt Jones who has missed his last three cuts and now needs to place in the top handful to have any chance of regaining full status.

The 2015 Australian Open champion was in a similar position last year before eventually finishing 126th, an agonising nine points short of retaining his card.

At the other end of the spectrum is TOUR rookie Brett Drewitt who qualified for the 2017 season via the Web.com Finals Series last year.

Like many before him the 26-year-old has found his first year in the big leagues hard going but a strong finish at the Barbasol Championship two weeks ago has given him a shot at a second chance.

Drewitt played his way into the top-200 in Alabama and if he can hold on to his current 192nd placing will have the opportunity to again tee up in the Finals Series to try to earn a second go around next year.

Already guaranteed a spot in those four tournaments is Australia’s newest member of the Professional ranks, Curtis Luck, who has impressed at every turn in his rookie year.

Starting the week after the Masters with no status and access to only seven sponsor exemptions, Luck has parlayed that opportunity into an assured Web.com Tour season and the possibility of playing the PGA TOUR next year.

With no pressure and a scoring format that rewards aggressive play, Luck may be a surprise contender this week.

Steve Alker, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley, Peter Lonard, Tim Wilkinson and Steven Bowditch round out the Australasian challenge.