Having got within touching distance of the earnings required to keep his Japan Tour card for next year David Bransdon will be looking to replicate his form of last week when he is one of three Australians to tee up in the Mynavi ABC Championship.

Bransdon opened with a 66 to share the lead through 18 holes of the Bridgestone Open but with bad weather reducing the tournament to just 36 holes he never got the chance to improve on his T10 position after the second round.

However, the Victorian will take confidence from that performance into this week’s tournament as he tries to climb from 74^th on the money list inside the top-70.

That is the number required to maintain playing privileges and given he is unlikely to earn starts at some of the Tour’s biggest events in coming weeks this week takes on new significance.

Bransdon is joined in this week’s field by Brendan Jones and Kurt Barnes, the latter also needing a good showing this week to move up the earnings table.

Barnes currently sits 88^th after an indifferent year though a T14 finish two weeks ago suggests his game may be coming around.

Like Bransdon he is unlikely to have access to the big season ending events so will be looking to make the most of this week.

Brendan Jones has no concerns about his playing future but as a former winner of this event will like his chances this week.

It has been 15 years since he lifted the trophy here and while he has had a recent run of mid-field finishes is capable of contending on any week in Japan.