European Tour veteran Richard Green leads a 10 strong Australasian contingent at this week’s Portugal Masters, site of the third of the likeable Victorian’s three career victories.

Green claimed the title in 2010 courtesy of a brilliant final round 65 to come from seven shots off the pace and win by two.

Having lost his full card in cruel circumstances last year, Green has made limited starts in 2017 as he attempts to get back on the Tour and will be pleased to return to a venue where he has enjoyed success over the years.

He is joined at the Dom Pedro Victoria course by many of the Tour’s Australasian regulars with Sam Brazel, Nathan Holman, Jason Scrivener, Ryan Fox and Wade Ormsby all making the journey.

Jason Norris will make his third start as a full member of the Tour while Todd Sinnott plays for the second straight week as a sponsor’s invite.

Ryan McCarthy and Daniel Fox both step up from the secondary Challenge Tour.

Green aside, Jason Scrivener is the only Australasian to have played the event before with his 16-under total in 2016 good for a T17 finish.

He also played in 2015 but finished outside the top 50 though comes into the week with some decent form after a top 20 result at last week’s KLM Open in Holland.

He was also T5 two weeks previous at the Czech Masters suggesting his game is in a good place and he could be a surprise contender this week.

Todd Sinnott, too, finished T20 last week but seems on the verge of putting together a really good week.

He played brilliantly two weeks ago for the opening two rounds at Crans-sur-Sierre before fading over the weekend and was once again in the mix after the opening round last week.

An explosive player capable of shooting super low scores it would be no surprise to see Sinnott put it all together this week and be in the mix come Sunday.

Cullen hunting big week in Kazakhstan

After two weeks off Nick Cullen returns for the richest event on the European Challenge Tour at this week’s Kazakhstan Open as he takes aim at a 2018 European Tour card.

The 2014 Australian Masters champion has slipped to 40^th on the season long Road to Oman standings and needs to make his way into the top 15 to earn main tour status for next year.

However, with a purse almost double the average on the secondary tour available this week Cullen has a chance to make big strides towards that goal.

The winner’s share of the €450,000 purse is €72,000, easily enough to move Cullen into the top 15, though anything in the top five would also likely be enough to achieve that result.

The other two Australians playing this week, Ben Eccles and Daniel Gaunt, are also in need of some good play as both battle to keep their cards on the secondary Tour.

Eccles has slipped to 83^rd in earnings with only the top 45 assured of a card for next season while Gaunt is outside the top 200 after a difficult year.

It has been a steep learning curve for Eccles in 2017, his first full year playing a Tour outside Australia, but the talented former NSW Open winner will be a better player for the experience.