Max
McCardle will be looking to break back into the top five on the PGA Tour China
Order of Merit when the fourth event of the season tees off this week.

McCardle made
a brilliant start to the year with back to back top 10 finishes but fell off
the pace at last week’s Cadillac Championship, which saw record low scoring on
the fledgling Tour.

However,
the South Australian has every reason to be confident of moving back up the
standings as this week’s Lanhai Open was the scene of his best career finish in
China prior to this year.

McCardle
was fourth outright in 2015 and after a T8 and T4 in the first two events of
this season, a repeat of his 2015 form this week would see him well up on Order
of Merit.

As the only
Australian inside the top 10 in earnings to date, McCardle has been the
standout performer of the more than 20 Australians playing in China this year.

Chris Wood
is next best on the Order of Merit at 21^st with Taylor Cooper (23^rd)
the only other Australian inside the top 30.

There will
be 22 Australians in this week’s field including last week’s top Australian
finishers Ray Beaufils and David McKenzie. Jake Higginbottom, a former New Zealand
Open winner, will look to regain some form after two missed cuts from three
starts.

Former PGA
TOUR player Michael Sim is also yet to show his best stuff, although four solid
rounds last week suggest that may change soon.