Recent Web.com winner Rod Pampling and rising star Cameron Smith have received invitations to play this week’s Byron Nelson Classic on the PGA TOUR, a huge opportunity for two players at very different stages of their careers.

Pampling, 45, is trying to earn back the
card he lost in 2012 after spending 11 years and two victories on the PGA TOUR
while Smith, 21, is a rising star of the game and desperate to earn a ticket on
the world’s biggest circuit.

The invitations are a feather in the cap
for each at one of the most prestigious tournaments on the TOUR and they will
face a strong field at the TPC Four Seasons Resort come tee off time.

A dozen Australians will make the trip to
Dallas for the event including our highest ranked golfer, Jason Day, who tees
up for the first time since The PLAYERS two weeks ago.

After a blistering start to the year, Day’s
form has cooled since the Masters in April with particularly disappointing
results at the WGC Matchplay and TPC Sawgrass where he missed the cut.

A T4 in New Orleans two weeks after Augusta
was a good result on paper but in reality was a missed opportunity for Day who
led going into the final round but was overtaken by Justin Rose.

While Day notched his first TOUR win at
this event in 2010 that victory came at a different course but since the
tournament moved to TPC Four Seasons in 2011 his results have been good with a
5^th, T9 and T27 in 2013.

Given his recent form it is difficult to
know which Jason Day will turn up this week though a player of his calibre is
unlikely to remain in any form slump for long and with some of the biggest tournaments
of the year approaching it would be a surprise if Day didn’t lift.

The other Australians teeing up this week
are John Senden, Robert Allenby, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Steven Bowditch,
Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers.

Marc Leishman is the form player of the
bunch in terms of this tournament with two T3 finishes in the last three years
including 2014.

The Victorian has been playing well since
missing the Masters due to wife Audrey’s illness and comes off yet another
consistent performance at Colonial last week.

It’s been just the sort of run which often
culminates in a good week where everything comes together and on a course that
obviously suits his eye Leishman could be a genuine threat this week.

There is little in the way of previous form
to suggest any of the other Australians will contend with barely a top-10
finish between them at this course.

Geoff Ogilvy has never teed up at TPC Four
seasons while Matt Jones has missed the cut in all three of his appearances
here.

Steven Bowditch has fared little better
with three missed cuts in four attempts while Robert Allenby’s best finish has
been T37 which came last year.

Greg Chalmers will be keen to post some
good numbers this week as he takes advantage of one of his limited starts on
the main TOUR for the year and will take some heart from last year’s tournament
where he finished T22.

In two starts at this course Cameron Percy
has a best finish of T57 but having had few playing opportunities in recent
weeks, and missing his last three cuts dating back to the week prior to the
Masters, he will be motivated to play well this week.