With most of the European Tour’s biggest stars either in the US for the FedEx Cup finals or taking the week off, 11 Australians get their chance to shine at this week’s Russian Open.

Several who normally ply their trade in Asia will tee up at the Skolkovo Golf Club under a ‘National/Regional Orders of Merit’ exemption category.

Nathan Holman, Kalem Richardson, Sam Brazel, Jake Higginbottom, Lincoln Tighe, Aaron Townsend, Anthony Summers, Steve Dartnall and Ryan Lynch will join Euro regulars Jason Scrivener and Daniel Gaunt in the field for the €1,000,000 purse.

It will be Holman’s second European Tour event in a row after a disappointing missed cut at last week’s Czech Masters but in seven starts this year he has missed only two weekends and amassed €97,339 in earnings.

Jake Higgnbottom, Kalem Richardson and Sam Brazel all played the Asian Tour co-sanctioned events earlier in the year but for Tighe, Townsend, Dartnall, Lynch and Summers this marks their first European Tour appearance for 2015.

In a less than full strength field all the Australians will have their sights set on a win and the ultimate reward of a European Tour card while for Jason Scrivener the goal will be to earn some much needed cash as he bids to keep his card for next year.

Having earned status at last year’s Q-School Scrivener finds himself 167th on the Order of Merit after 15 starts and needs to climb into the top-10 to retain playing rights for next year.

A good performance in Denmark three weeks ago looked to have set the tone for a strong finish to the year for the West Australian but he missed the cut by a shot last week at the Czech Masters.

The 26-year-old rookie has struggled to find his feet with his exemption category meaning he has had only limited starts and he needs to make the most of his opportunities when they come along.

Also looking to play well this week is Daniel Gaunt who is splitting his time between the European and Challenge Tours this year.

Hovering just inside the top-110 on the Order of Merit a good week could cement his card for 2016 and though he missed the cut last week was joint runner-up the previous week in Denmark so has recent form to draw on.