Jason Day’s withdrawal has dominated the Australian headlines ahead of this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship but quietly in the background Matt Griffin and Michael Hendry will be relishing their place in the field.

When play gets underway Thursday at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City the Australasian pair will reap the rewards of hard work and good play back home by taking their place among the game’s elite.

Griffin and Hendry finished 1-2 on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit last season and among the rewards for that is the opportunity to take part in this week’s event.

It will be Hendry’s second appearance in the tournament but Griffin’s first and both will be looking to grab the opportunity with both hands.

The pair are part of a six strong Australasian contingent, Sam Brazel also making his WGC debut while Scott Hend and Marcus Fraser have played this event before.

Brazel earns his place courtesy of his victory at the Hong Kong Open late last year which has him high on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Hend and Fraser finished in the top two positions on last year’s Asian Tour order of Merit to earn their place while Adam Scott is the defending champion and among the top-50 players in the world.

With the tournament moving to Mexico after more than 50 years at the Doral course in Florida there are no players with any obvious advantage this week.

However, with 49 of the world’s top-50 teeing up (World Number Two Jason Day is the only one missing), it is sure to be a competitive tournament.

As the highest ranked Australian in the field Scott will carry the most weight with local fans though he has been less than pleased with his game in recent weeks despite decent results.

A T11 at the Genesis Open and another top-15 when defending his Honda Classic title last week suggest he is not far away from finding form but his putting stats in Florida were a cause for concern.

One of the more consistent ball strikers in the game, he fixed some issues with his driver which proved costly at the Genesis Open but will need to improve on the greens to contend this week.

Of the other Australians Scott Hend’s game tends to be best suited to events of this calibre, the Queenslander’s long, high ball flight and ideal fit for the type of course set up expected this week.

Hend has made it clear his goal is a return to the PGA TOUR and knows a good week in Mexico would go a long way towards achieving that goal.

Fellow European Tour regulars Marcus Fraser and Sam Brazel seem less likely to contend though Fraser showed at the Rio Olympics that under the right conditions he can compete with the best in the world.

Griffin and Hendry both play the bulk of their golf in Japan though both are proven international performers capable of holding their own if they get into contention.