Nathan Holman begins to enjoy the spoils of his Australian PGA Championship victory this week when he makes his first start as a full member of the European Tour at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Holman is one of seven Australians teeing up at the tournament which features one of the strongest fields of the year, with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy two of four world top-10 ranked players in the field.

Richard Green, Brett Rumford, Andrew Dodt, Scott Hend, Wade Ormsby and Marcus Fraser are also playing with Jason Scrivener, Dimi Papadatos, Terry Pilkadaris, Scott Arnold and Daniel Gaunt all on the alternates list though unlikely to get a start.

Being played for the 11th time this week the Abu Dhabi Championship is yet to toast an Australian winner though Holman’s game is perfectly suited to the course.

The tournament represents a big opportunity for the 24-year-old to test his game in a world class field and an event that will attract plenty of worldwide media attention thanks to the presence of McIlroy and Spieth.

History suggests Holman is up to the challenge, his victory at RACV Royal Pines Resort last year no huge surprise to those who have followed his career closely.

At every level he has played the Victorian has been up to the challenge and with almost two full years of exemption in Europe it would be a surprise if he didn’t become one of the Tour’s premier players in a short time.

For the other Australians playing this week Abu Dhabi hasn’t been a particularly fruitful event, not a single top-10 recorded between them since the tournament began in 2006.

Richard Green’s T13 in 2010 is the best of their collective results, Andrew Dodt finishing T17 in 2013 for the only other top-20 finish of the group.

That could of course change this week though with all seven making their first appearances for 2016 there is little in the way of form to go on and all will need to be at their best to contend in a strong field.