Brendan Jones is hoping a double dose of green fever helps him light up the golf course this weekend as he chases $14.44 million opportunity.
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Canberra Raiders fan Jones considered putting his Japan Golf Tour commitments on hold this week to make a mad dash home to watch the Green Machine play in the NRL grand final on Sunday night.
![Brendan Jones at the Ricky Stuart golf day earlier this year. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos Brendan Jones at the Ricky Stuart golf day earlier this year. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc6yxms6g3nk11mt63f7lk.jpg/r0_331_4256_2828_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But he will instead play in the Tokai Classic to boost his chances of rising up the order of merit and securing a spot in a lucrative PGA Tour event.
"I'll change straight into my Raiders shirt and watch the game from a pub in Tokyo, though," Jones beamed on Tuesday.
The Canberra golfer finished ninth in Hyogo last week to move to 11th on the Japan order of merit. The top seven players on the order of merit in two weeks will earn a spot in the 78-strong PGA tour event, which will be the first in Japan.
Jones has found form at his past two events, finishing 14th and ninth to give him a chance to play at the Zozo championships from October 24-27 in Chiba.
"I'm still in the hunt. There are only two more weeks until the [order of merit] cut off, so this is a really important one.
"I need to probably finish in the top five and be outright, hoping the guys above me on the [order of merit] don't do too much.
"I'm outside the top seven at the moment and there's a bit of a gap there, so I'm going to need a big week and again next week.
"I do feel a lot better than what I have done. My performances at the last couple of events have improved.
"The last couple of tournaments have given me some confidence, I feel my game coming around again and it's a good time of year for that to happen. Getting in Zozo would be fantastic, but it's still a busy time of year and if my form is good I can finish the year on a high."
Jones fired an opening round of four-under and then shot four birdies in five holes to give him momentum before the final round last week.
His top-10 finish in Hyogo was his first since winning the Token Homemate Cup earlier this year.
But Jones also has rugby league on his mind as the Raiders prepare for their biggest game in 25 years.
Jones is friends with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and has been a regular at Canberra Stadium when not on tour.
"For me it's great to see people I know achieving big things," Jones said.
"What Ricky has done, not just for the team but for Canberra, it's put the passion and pride back in Canberra. That's a big thing. I'll always defend Canberra wherever I go because it gets a bum rap.
"It's been quite a few lean years, so it's nice to see excitement back in the town. Of course I thought about [coming back for the grand final], but I've enjoyed watching from a distance this year."