Five Australians will take their place in
the field for the first event of the 2017 Web.com Tour season which will make
history by beginning on a Sunday.

The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic is the
first of two events on the secondary Tour which will run from Sunday to
Wednesday, an innovation never before tried on the Web.com Tour.

Steve Allan, Robert Allenby, Jamie Arnold,
Jake Younan and Rhein Gibson will tee up in the tournament but the Australian
connection doesn’t end there with Greg Norman set to hit the opening tee shot.

The Shark designed the Sandals Emerald Bay
Golf course, host of the event, and will be on hand for the Saturday pro-am as
well as Sunday’s ceremonial drive.

Over a three week stretch the Tour will
play two events in the Bahamas, this week’s tournament to be followed by the
Great Abaco Classic in two weeks’ time.

Web.com Tour President Dan Glod told Golf Channel
this week the move was designed to bring added attention to the circuit and its
players.

"Instead of being up against every other
golf tournament and sporting event on a Sunday we’re just starting our
tournament," he said.

"And then Monday through Wednesday we kind
of own the live golf landscape. For us, we believe it gives us an opportunity
to showcase the players on our tour."

For three of the Australians in the field
the tournament is the beginning of the long road back to the PGA TOUR with
Robert Allenby, Steve Allan and Rhein Gibson all former members of the main
circuit.

Allenby has limited status in 2017 after
two difficult seasons at the top level but after 18 consecutive years as a
member will be highly motivated to turn things around in 2017.

In contrast, Gibson has played just one
year on the PGA TOUR after graduating from the Web.com in 2015.

He found the going tough in his rookie
season and failed to keep his card but will be better for the experience and
will be expecting to graduate back to the main Tour at year’s end.

Veteran Steve Allan hasn’t competed full
time on the PGA TOUR since 2009 but a gutsy final round at December’s Q-School
saw him keep his Web.com card and have another chance to graduate to the top
level.

Languishing well down the leaderboard and
staring at a potentially career ending week, Allan fired a stirring final round
65 which vaulted him over 66 players and back onto the secondary Tour for 2017.

Also performing well at the Q-School was
Jamie Arnold who, like Allan, finished in the top-45 on the leaderboard to
ensure several early season starts before players are re-ranked.

2017 represents a big opportunity for
Arnold who has never held meaningful status of any kind in the US.

The last Australian in the field, Jake
Younan, is listed as a tournament sponsor’s invite and will be hoping to make
the most of a big opportunity.

Younan has twice played the Web.com Tour
previously making 13 starts in 2014 and playing 21 tournaments in 2011.