Quayle ready to hit the big time at ANA Open Golf Tournament

Australia's Anthony Quayle is finally back in Japan after three months to resume his pursuit of an elusive JGTO title, starting with this week's ¥100,000,000 ANA Open Golf Tournament at Sapporo Golf Club in Hokkaido.

The 28-year-old, who finished a laudable tied-15th in his debut at The Open in July, played no part in the last six legs after the Tour's restarted in early August.

Quayle was in the United States instead to try his luck at securing a US PGA Tour card through its secondary's Korn Ferry Tour Finals, where a total of 25 berths were up for grabs.

However, Quayle ended his campaign in the three-legged Finals, which concluded with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship on Sept 4, without making any cut.

Quayle had nevertheless cherished the opportunity and believes these invaluable experiences will stand him in good stead for the challenges ahead.

"It’s nice to be back after some good performances overseas. The course is in amazing condition and it’s good to see some familiar faces again," said Quayle.

Despite his absence, the 27-year-old remains the highest-placed international member in the season-long JGTO Money Rankings, having cashed in ¥38,933,319 from nine appearances that were greatly boosted by his strong performance at The Open.

But Quayle had also impressed on several occasions, particularly finishing runner-up to Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent at the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open in May.

Quayle also posted another pair of top-10 results, tying for sixth at the ISPS HANDA Championship and finishing outright fourth at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship.

Competing in his fourth full season, Quayle's best overall finish came during the 2019 season when he ended his campaign in 29th spot.

Besides Quayle, the other international competitors who are expected to contend include South Africa's Jbe Kruger, South Korea's Sanghee Lee and Dongkyu Jang and American Todd Baek, who had all enjoyed a top-14 finish at last week's Shinhan Donghae Open.

Vincent will not defend his ANA Open title this week. He's the only international winner this season after 15 tournaments thus far.

Fresh off last week's victory, Kazuki Higa will be the one to watch as he eyes his fourth title of the season.

If he succeeds, Higa will become the first player to accomplish four titles in a season since Yusaku Miyazato in the 2017 season.

Ends.