The 2018 Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways field has been finalised with a handful of ISPS Hands PGA Tour of Australasia regulars securing a last-minute ticket to paradise.

Maverick Antcliff, Cameron John, Neven Basic, Rick Kulacz, Aaron Wilkin, Anthony Marchesani, Mathew Perry and James Anstiss are the lucky last entrants into the field headlined by major champions Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.

For Marchesani the good news came as a relief as much as anything, the Victorian rolling the dice and flying to Fiji on Sunday morning in the hope he’d be offered a spot to tee it up this week.

“I came over here on a chance really, because I was six spots out,” Marchesani told the PGA of Australia.

“The boys said that I should make it in so I was kind of confident.

“We were out on the course and I got a message from the PGA that I was in. So now I can actually look forward to playing which is good!”

On the mend from a back injury sustained in May at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship, Marchesani is ready to fire in the back half of the ISPS Panda PGA Tour of Australasia season.

After watching his older brother James finish runner-up twelve months ago at Natadola Bay, Marchesani is hoping to keep the family form running.

“It’s a huge event, after seeing James do so well last year when he finished second and seeing how much it’s helped him, it makes it pretty exciting heading into the week,” Marchesani said.

“Hopefully I can play well and string a few good rounds together.”

After receiving the good news, the 25-year-old headed on course to get his first look at three-time major champion Vijay Singh’s famous coastal layout.

With the wind blowing – and only likely to get stronger as the week progresses – the younger Marchesani knows he’ll have to adapt in order to avoid the trouble Natadola Bay presents.

“Today’s the first time I’ve ever seen it, it’s pretty tough out here in the wind. But I can see it being pretty scoreable if there’s not too much wind about,” added Marchesani.

“There’s always different shots you need to play, especially off the tee. Into the wind you just try to get it in play and then downwind you just try and take advantage of it.”