As he stands on the first tee of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship Thursday, Curtis Luck will have been a Professional for just 144 days.

In that short time he has achieved a remarkable amount but the next four weeks are crucial in determining the trajectory of his immediate career.

To have played his way to the Web.com’s Finals Series is an impressive feat but Luck’s ultimate goal is the PGA TOUR.

Between now and October 1, when the Web.com Tour Championship concludes at TPC Sawgrass, the 21-year-old West Australian has the chance to make that dream a reality.

Luck is one of nine Australasians playing the Finals Series with Steve Alker, Stuart Appleby, Scott Hend, Cameron Percy, Rhein Gibson, Brett Drewitt, Jamie Arnold and Matt Jones also in the field.

Luck and Hend both qualified despite not being members of either the Web.com or PGA TOURS, their play in limited starts enough to earn them a berth.

Arnold and Gibson both played full time on the secondary Tour in 2017 and were among the top 75 earners eligible to tee up, Arnold finishing 52^nd and Gibson scraping in at 74^th.

Drewitt, Percy, Appleby and Jones all had limited status on the main Tour for the season and while unable to finish in the top 125 and keep their cards for 2018, did enough to finish between 126-200 and get a second chance over the next month.

Of the group only Jamie Arnold and Luck have never been members of the PGA Tour, Arnold playing his first full season in America at the age of 34 this year while this is Luck’s first attempt to qualify.

Luck’s stellar amateur career suggested he had the game to compete at the top level and his performance in limited starts has confirmed that, highlighted by a T5 finish at the Quicken Loans tournament last month.

Arnold, too, has impressed in 2017 after surviving qualifying school last year and making a slow start to the season.

Despite missing five of his first six cuts, the Sydneysider settled into a rhythm and finished the year the highest money earner of the five Australians to play regularly on the secondary Tour.

Gibson was the only other to qualify for the Finals and while he played his way to the 2016 PGA TOUR through this series two years ago has been at less than his best most of 2017.

For the five golfers who qualified via the PGA TOUR the month long qualifying series is familiar territory.

Brett Drewitt played well enough last season to earn his spot on the PGA TOUR but didn’t manage to keep his card, Cameron Percy another who has graduated from the secondary Tour in the past.

Matt Jones was just one FedEx Cup spot from keeping his card last season and makes his second appearance in the Finals Series while fellow TOUR winner Stuart Appleby is also making his second trip.

Scott Hend played one full season on the American circuit in 2006 but lost his card and has made several attempts to get it back since.

But the last two years, in particular, have seen his game mature into one that can compete with the very best and he will fancy his chances of advancing over the next month.

New Zealand’s Steve Alker is the quintessential journeyman among the Australasian contingent having held his full PGA TOUR card three times but never managing to keep it.

A Web.com regular in the intervening years, next season will be Alker’s 15^th in America, an underappreciated achievement in one of the most competitive sporting environments in the world.