SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA | Geoff Ogilvy finally
achieved the dream of all Australian golfers when he cruised to victory in his national
championship, the Australian Open, at The
Lakes Golf Club on Sunday.
The 2006 U.S. Open champion shot rounds
of 68-65-67-69 to finish at 19-under par and
win by four shots from compatriots Alistair
Presnell and Matt Jones.
Ogilvy joined a select group of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Steve Elkington, who
have won the Australian Open and a major
championship.
Norman, looking to match Nicklaus’ six
Australian Open titles, finished 16 shots back in
a tie for 32nd with other former winners Adam
Scott and Craig Parry.
Ogilvy said his dream of winning this title
started in 1984 when, at age 6, he watched Tom
Watson win at Royal Melbourne in his hometown.
“This has turned a reasonable year into a good
year,” he said. “I won at the start (the SBS Championship in Hawaii in January) and then played
poorly for seven months. I started to run into form
but ran out of tournaments on the PGA Tour.
“This is the 90-year-old trophy – this is the
real jewel.”
The win is Ogilvy’s second PGA Tour of Aus-
tralasia title and his first on OneAsia.
Despite his success in the U.S., this was
only Ogilvy’s second win at home, following the
2008 Australian PGA, which he contests at the
Coolum Resort in Queensland this week.
The leading American was David Oh, a
29-year-old Californian, who plays on the
OneAsia Tour. He finished eight shots behind
Ogilvy in a tie for sixth with Aussies Bronson
Lacassie and Greg Chalmers.
American Dudley Hart made a promising
return in his first tournament in 18 months following back surgery, shooting rounds of 68-69
against par of 72. Sadly, this was followed by a
73 while being treated on the course by a
physiotherapist. He did not make it to the tee
on the final day.
The leading amateur was Englishman Tom
Lewis, who tied for 12th, 12 shots off the pace,
with former U.S. Open champion Michael
Campbell. Australian-based Korean Jin Jeong,
the current British Amateur champion, missed
the cut, as did 2011 Presidents Cup captain
Fred Couples and dual-major winner John Daly,
who played in a pair of trousers made from the
Australian flag.
