Aussie veteran Steve Allan will be hoping to become just the sixth Monday qualifier to win a PGA TOUR event after playing his way into the field for this week’s John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Illinois.

The 2002 Australian Open champion will be making his 211th start on the PGA TOUR but has not been sighted on golf’s richest stage in more than 12 months, finishing tied for 69th at the Sony Open in January 2018.

He has played only six PGA TOUR events since he last had full status a decade ago but must be confident in his game having shot 63 at the Pinnacle Country Club on Monday to earn one of four spots in the John Deere Classic field.

Fifteen years ago Allan recorded his best finish on the PGA TOUR when he was tied for second at the 2004 Reno-Tahoe Open and will be out to emulate the feat of Canadian Corey Conners who won the Valero Texas Open in April having come through Monday qualifying.

Allan’s addition takes the number of Australians in the field this week to five with John Senden making his first start in almost two months, the 2006 John Deere Classic champion earning a place in the field courtesy of his reorder category.

The Aussie veterans are joined in the field by Matt Jones, Curtis Luck and Cameron Davis who can not only improve their FedEx Cup ranking with a strong week but potentially play their way into The Open Championship at Royal Portrush next week.

Jones was well and truly in the hunt for a top-five finish 12 months ago but lost ground in the final round with an even-par round of 72 as he finished four shots out of second position.