The five-year wait for a win now over, Brad Kennedy returns to the Sodegaura Country Club for this year’s Bridgestone Open with positive memories and a place inside the top 10 on the Japan Golf Tour moneylist within reach.

Sodegaura Country Club in Chiba has played host to the Bridgestone ever since Graham Marsh triumphed in 1974, Roger Mackay (1989) and Scott Laycock (2002) other Aussies to walk away with the trophy over the past 44 years.

Securing his third win in Japan at the Sega Sammy Cup earlier in the season, Kennedy sits 11th on the JGTO moneylist and will feel very comfortable returning to the Sodegaura Course where he was tied for 18th in the rain-shortened 36-hole tournament 12 months ago.

Two years ago he was tied for 11th and in 2014 Kennedy finished tied for 10th thanks to four sub-70 rounds on the demanding Kazusuke Izumi layout.

A consistent season that has not yielded a win sees Brendan Jones 18th on the moneylist heading into the Bridgestone Open where he has a best result of tied for seventh, a result he has achieved on three separate occasions (2003, 2010, 2016).

There are currently five Aussies inside the top 40 on the Japan Tour moneylist with Matthew Griffin (24th), Won Joon Lee (32nd) and Anthony Quayle (40th) all eager to add to their haul this week with a high finish.

David Bransdon, Todd Sinnott, Scott Strange and Kiwi Michael Hendry are the other Australasians in the field.

There is also a healthy contingent playing in China this week as the European Challenge Tour completes its two-week swing at the Foshan Golf Club for the Foshan Open.

Holding firm at 15th on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah rankings, Dimi Papadatos has finished outside the top 35 in each of his past three starts, the New South Welshman desperate to log a good result as the race for a 2019 European Tour card heats up.

Victorian Ben Eccles can take confidence into the tournament having been top Aussie last week while Deyen Lawson will be hoping to build on his strong showing at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a fortnight ago.

The Kiwi trio of Luke Toomey, Fraser Wilkin and Mathew Perry will also tee it up alongside Aussies Jack Wilson, Dale Brandt-Richards and Bryden Macpherson.