Matthew Griffin will have a lot to live up to when he tees off in the opening round of the Heiwa PGM Championship in Okinawa on Thursday.

With spectacular vistas out across the East China Sea, the beauty of the PGM Golf Resort layout remodeled by Japan Golf Tour legend Isao Aoki can be an eye-catching distraction but it was the course that very much suited the eye of Griffin 12 months ago.

Playing the course for the first time, Griffin was 1-over through his first nine holes after starting from the 10th tee before going on a tear across the front nine, registering five birdies in a back nine of 30 to end the day tied for second.

Fresh from watching Winx win a fourth WS Cox Plate at Moonee Valley last Saturday, Griffin will start his first round from the 1st tee on Thursday eager to emulate his performance of last year where he was tied for fifth at week’s end.

Currently 26th on the moneylist, it has been another ultra-consistent season in Japan from the 35-year-old who has accumulated six top-20 finishes and is coming off a tie for ninth at the Bridgestone Open two weeks ago.

With two wins on the PGA Tour of Australasia and three in Korea Griffin would love nothing more than to go two places better than his best performance in Japan to date, a tie for third at the Japan PGA Championship earlier this year.

Fellow Australian Brad Kennedy broke a five-year winless drought earlier in the season and enters the Heiwa PGM Championship 13th on the moneylist while Won Joon Lee will be keen to advance his ranking of 42nd.

Scott Strange and David Bransdon are the other Australians teeing it up in Okinawa this week along with New Zealand’s Michael Hendry.