He’s in contention to be crowned the European Tour’s Golfer of the Month and tournament organisers expect Min Woo Lee to carry that form into this week’s Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.

Along with Kiwi Ryan Fox – who is enjoying a week off to marry long-time partner Anneke this week – Lee has been nominated for the Golfer of the Month award, significant given February was Lee’s first full month as a professional.

The 20-year-old was fourth in just his second start at the Saudi Arabia International and converted a trip home to Perth into a tie for fifth at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth tournament.

That earned him a start at last week’s Oman Open and although he missed the cut after a hectic travel schedule, those behind the Qatar Masters had no hesitation in extending an invitation to join the field this week.

“We’re delighted to welcome Min Woo Lee to this year’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters,” said tournament director Gary McGlinchey.

“He has already proven he can compete at the highest level and we’re sure he will be a factor at Doha Golf Club.”

Currently 34th in the Race to Dubai standings, Lee has made an immediate impression with his length off the tee, averaging 322 yards to be fourth in the Strokes Gained: Off The Tee statistical category.

Driving has proven to be a key contributor to success at Doha Golf Club in years gone by with Adam Scott a two-time winner (2002, 2008) and Spainish long bomber Alvaro Quiros victorious at the 7,400 yard layout in 2009.

Aussie pair Jake McLeod and Deyen Lawson will have the honour of leading the field out from the first and 10th tees respectively from 2.25pm AEDT on Thursday with Queensland’s Scott Hend to follow 90 minutes later.

Lee has been drawn to play with Quiros and Finland’s Mikko Korhonen in the opening two rounds with Nick Cullen and Lucas Herbert to commence their tournament among the afternoon groups.

Sydney’s Kevin Yuan has given himself the opportunity to spend 2019 on the PGA Tour Series-China after finishing inside the top 12 at the Second Global Qualifying Tournament at Foison Golf Club.

A total of six Australians were vying for a place on a pathway towards the PGA Tour but only Yuan was able to secure status, his tie for fifth earning him a guaranteed six starts and the chance to play his way into an even stronger schedule.

Despite charging home with five birdies in his final nine holes for a 4-under 66, Andy Chu from Liverpool Golf Club finished an agonizing one shot out of conditional status in a tie for 39th.

A double-bogey 7 at the par-5 eighth hole and a bogey at the par-5 10th put Yuan in a precarious position but he bounced back with birdies at 11 and 12 and made pars all the way home to end the week at 2-under, one shot clear of an eight-way playoff for the final five spots.

In just his second year as a professional, Yuan played 12 events on the 2018 PGA Tour Series-China schedule, his best result a tie for 17th at the Chengdu Championship.

Learning his game on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula helped to propel Deyen Lawson to his third top-30 finish of the European Tour season at a windswept Oman Open.

The Greg Norman-designed Al Mouj Golf course was buffeted all week by strong winds whipping up off the Gulf of Oman, sandstorms created by the brutal conditions forcing an early end to the second round.

The entire field had to both compete their third rounds and then play the final round on Sunday with American Kurt Kitayama recording his second win of the season.

Birdies at the ninth and 12th holes enabled Lawson to carry positive momentum into his final round, a birdie at the par-3 11th followed by an eagle at the par-5 12th moving him up the leaderboard, bogeys at 13 and 17 resulting in a tie for 27th.

In his first full year on the European Tour, Lawson has recorded three top-30 finishes in just seven starts to sit in 115th place on the Race to Dubai rankings.

A shot behind Lawson, Scott Hend and Nick Cullen were the only other Australians to make the cut, the pair both logging rounds of 1-over 73 to finish tied for 31st.

The European Tour moves to Qatar for the Qatar Masters this week where seven Aussies are currently in the field.

New South Welshman Tim Stewart narrowly missed out on securing full status for the opening six tournaments of the PGA TOUR Series-China schedule with a final round of 2-under 68 in the First Global Qualifying Tournament at Foison Golf Club in Guangzhou.

Abdul Hadi from Singapore earned full status for 2019 by finishing two shots clear of the field with Stewart one shot outside those who earned status for the first six events of the year.

Stewart will have conditional status courtesy of his tie for 15th with fellow Aussies Aaron Pike, Hayden Webb, Adam Blyth and Ryan Ruffels along with Kiwi pair Sam An and Victor Janin also securing limited status by finishing inside the top 35.

Seven Australians will contest the Second Global Qualifying Tournament – also to be played at Foison Golf Club – starting Tuesday.

It’s the scene of his first title triumph and Victorian Bryden Macpherson believes his game is in a place where he can once again contend in this week’s Beijing Championship at Topwin Golf and Country Club.

All told there will be 11 Australasian players in the field in Beijing in the final PGA Tour-China event until the Suzhou Championship in late August.

Macpherson’s maiden win as a professional at Topwin in 2015 helped to propel him to the China Tour’s Order of Merit and Player of the Year honours but has this year split his time between China, the European Challenge Tour and his home base of Jupiter, Florida in the United States.

Currently 44th on the Order of Merit, Macpherson has recorded top-15 finishes in the past three events on the PGA Tour-China schedule and believes the depth of talent now playing in China is making for a much more competitive leaderboard.

“The game is right there, but the difference is that when I used to play here in 2014 and 2015, I would have finished top five,” Macpherson told PGA Tour media.

“Now, the standard’s gone up a little bit, and I’m finishing top 15.

“I think I’m playing well, but there are a lot of good players here now.

“I still feel that if I play nice, tidy, quality golf with a little bit of luck, I can still win.

“Haikou was the first time I missed the cut in China, but I wasn’t playing that bad. It was just down to two bad holes.

“In Kunming, I was one shot off the lead with four holes to play but didn’t finish it off.

“I played well in Yantai and last week in Qingdao and felt I had a chance to win.”

Having played two full seasons on the Web.com Tour in 2015 and 2016, Macpherson had limited status in 2017 and has this year played three Challenge Tour events in Europe, his best finish a tie for 20th at the Swiss Challenge in June.

The only professional wins of the 27-year-old’s career came in that 2015 season in China and he hopes some familiar surroundings will elicit those old winning feelings once again.

“I have great memories of Topwin as this was my first professional win,” said Macpherson, who was forced to practice in the rain on Tuesday.

“It was the first time I was in contention and able to really play well on Sunday.

“It was a big step forward for me but it was so long ago that I’ve almost forgotten how to do it.

“The course suits me and fits my eye and my game. I think it’s a great course as it’s got a bit of everything—some long holes, some forced lay-up holes, nice par-3s like No. 6, plus the topography’s interesting and there are some nice flat holes, as well.

“It tests every part of your game.”

Despite his unpredictable schedule over the past two years Macpherson maintains great confidence in his game.

His understanding of what he needs to do to play well continues to grow to the point where his self-belief points to an upswing in his prospects just around the corner.

“You get to a point where you feel like it’s perfectly OK to be yourself, whatever that means for you,” Macpherson recently told the ‘Inside The Ropes’ podcast.

“That’s normally when you become successful because ironically you stand out simply by being yourself.

“When it comes to golf, realising it’s OK to play within your identity is a really powerful thing.

“Me personally, I feel like I’m either at or really approaching that point where I’ve figured out how I do stuff. I’m getting a really good understanding of that.”

With just three confirmed tournaments left on the PGA Tour-China schedule following this week’s Beijing Championship Order of Merit positions become even more critical to those chasing one of five Web.com Tour cards for 2019.

In 13th position, Max McCardle is currently the best placed Australian with Deyen Lawson in 20th spot from just four events.

New Zealander Luke Toomey needs a big week in Beijing to improve on his position of 34th on the Order of Merit as do Kevin Yuan (59th), David Lutterus (62nd), Corey Hale (64th) and Peter Martin (77th).

The Japan Tour this week utilizes a matchplay format for the ISPS Solder Match Play Championship at the spectacular Hatoyama Country Club where six Australasian players will take part.

Won Joon Lee has been drawn to play Rahil Gangjee in the first round, recent winner Brad Kennedy faces off against Nobuhiro Masuda, Matthew Griffin has been drawn to play Jun-Won Park, Anthony Quayle plays Shigeru Nonaka, Kiwi Michael Hendry meets Ippei Koike and David Bransdon is up against Poom Saksansin.

The 2016 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year Adam Blyth has come up just shy of a maiden Asian Tour win at the Asia Pacific Classic in China.

Blyth finished in a share of second at the China Tour co-sanctioned tournament at the St Andrews Links course in Henan, two shots behind American John Catlin.

Starting the final round one shot back, Blyth took the lead after seven holes with two birdies and a bogey while the overnight leader posted a birdie and two bogeys.

The pair were square at the turn after another Catlin birdie but the back-9 belonged to the American despite a brave effort from Blyth.

Catlin posted three birdies and no dropped shots on the way to the clubhouse while Blyth couldn’t keep pace, a bogey at 10 offset by two birdies to reach 14-under for the week as Catlin reached 16-under.

That was good for a share of second place for the 2016 NSW Open winner.

Rounds of 70-66-68-70 saw Blyth claim top Australian honours by three shots from Andrew Martin whose Thursday 66 had him leading through 18 holes.

A second round 72 saw him slip down the standings but solid weekend rounds of 70-69 saw him to a T5 finish and an encouraging start to his year in Asia.

A total of 17 Australasians from across the two Tours teed up in the tournament, Josh Younger’s T8 making it a trifecta of top-10’s.

Jack Wilson continued the good form he displayed before leaving Australia’s shores with a T12 result, a final round 74 disappointing in a week that can only be judged as a positive in the big picture.

Bryden Macpherson (T16), Steven Jeffress (T21), Matt Stieger (T31), Matt Perry and Ben Campbell (T43), Maverick Antcliff (T49) Gareth Paddison (T49) and Michael Choi (T63) were the others to make the cut.

Marcus Both, Deyen Lawson, Cory Crawford, James Marchesani, David Gleeson and New Zealand’s Fraser Wilkin all missed the weekend.

New Zealand’s Luke Toomey has posted his second runner-up finish in three starts on the China Tour where he was one of only four players to finish in red figures at the Colorful Yunnan Classic at the weekend.

Toomey’s 2-under total was five behind winner Tuxuan Wu and one ahead of two other players on a demanding golf course which saw several scores of 80 and worse for the week.

With access to the European Tour’s secondary circuit on offer for top earners at the end of the season, Toomey’s hot start could pay big dividends later in the year.

He is one of three New Zealanders who have made excellent starts to the season, Fraser Wilkin currently seventh on the Order of Merit and Mathew Perry 14^th.

Perry was next best behind Toomey at the weekend in a share of 11^th place with Bryden Macpherson a shot further back and T15.

It was an impressive comeback from Macpherson who missed the cut last week with some uncharacteristically poor play.

The former British Amateur champion has tasted plenty of success in China in recent years and will be looking to improve on his 25^th position on the Order of Merit as the season progresses.

Maverick Antcliff continued his steady play in China with a T19 result while Sydney’s Troy Moses will be pleased to have made the cut in his debut event.

Moses earned his card at Q-School earlier in the year but skipped the first four events of the season, T27 a pleasing result to begin his China career.

New Zealanders Fraser Wilkin (T47) and Kieran Muir (T60) were the only others to make the cut, Michael Pearce missing by one and Cory Crawford and Kevin Yuan by two.

Shane Kuiti battled to scores of 81-79 while Kade McBride withdrew before the tournament got underway.

New Zealand’s Luke Toomey has led home the Australasian challenge with a runner-up finish in his first start on the China Tour.

Toomey finished two shots behind American Charlie Saxon, who claimed the Tour’s opening event, and also moved to second on the Order of Merit.

With rounds of 67-66-66-68 at the Ba Ao Open, the second year Professional posted 21-under for the week, a birdie at the 70th hole giving him sole possession of second place.

One of 16 Australasians in the field, Toomey and Victorian Deyen Lawson were the only two to finish inside the top-10 with Lawson continuing the good form he showed in China in 2017 with a T6 result.

Like Toomey, Lawson was making his first start of the year and his cheque for just shy of AU$10,000 puts him 16^th on the money list.

With three events co-sanctioned by the European Challenge Tour in 2018 the China Tour, owned by the China Golf Association, will offer access to the European Tour for its top money earners at season’s end.

It is one of two Tours running in China in 2018 with the PGA Tour Series China, affiliated with the PGA TOUR, also hosting several tournaments and offering access to the secondary Web.com Tour.

Max McCardle, Maverick Antcliff and New Zealand’s Matthew Perry all finished T14 with Australia’s most successful China campaigner, Bryden Macpherson, T28 at 9-under.

In all, 13 Australasians made the cut with New Zealanders Fraser Wilkin, Shane Kuiti and Kiran Muir the three not to qualify.

Kevin Yuan and Kade McBride (T31), Corey Hale (T39), Michael Pearce (T43), Cory Crawford (T45), Peter Martin (50th) and New Zealand’s Hayden Beard (T51) were the others to play the weekend.