HONG KONG, May 1 - Kim Felton hopes a hot putter and a clear mind will complete his recovery from a crippling back injury that put him out of the game for over six months when he tees off next week in the 31st GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship, the third event on OneAsia's busy 2012 schedule.

The affable Aussie, who won on OneAsia in China in 2010, was diagnosed with a degenerative L4-5 disc in his spine last year and the injury was so bad he had to stop playing.

"After a lot of rest, a few cortisone injections and many hours of pilates, I am now back swinging pain free for the first time in a long time," Felton said.

"My game is fresh having not played for a long time, and I feel like I'm heading in the right direction, aiming for another win on OneAsia."

Felton missed the cut on his first return to competitive golf at the Volvo China Open in Tianjin last month, but he is confident his game is heading in the right direction and he can recapture the form that saw him win the Midea China Classic by two strokes in 2010. He also won on the Nationwide Tour in 2005 and has several Australian victories under his belt as well.

"That week in China in 2010 I putted really well and had a clear mind," he said. "If you have a good week with the putter, you normally go pretty close to winning.

"To get back to that level, I need to focus on consistency, get a few putts dropping and have a clear mind with good thoughts on the course."

Felton sums up the feelings of a lot of professionals when asked to describe what separates champions from the also-rans.

"There's not a lot of difference between winning and not winning on tour these days. It's a very fine line which I believe comes down to how the putter is feeling and performing,” he said.