West Australian talent Nick O Hern tossed up between baseball, tennis and golf before ultimately choosing life as a professional golfer. With the MFS Australian Open 2006 only a month away, O Hern is eager to claim his national title and a listing in the tournament s history book. The Australian Open is a special event for me. The 1997 tournament at the Metropolitan kick-started my career and it would mean the world to me to claim the title. It’s difficult to articulate just how special it is to win your own national title and therefore go down in your country s history books. Suffice to say, I want that. I love having the local support and it s always a great opportunity to return to my Australian home base and celebrate the end of another international tour by sharing a nice bottle of red with my wife. Travel and therefore time away from family and friends is the price you pay as a professional athlete. You have to adjust to committing yourself 100 per cent to the job at hand on the course and, only once you ve finished your job there, can you relax and ring home. To keep my family close by regardless of where I am, I wear a Saint Christopher medallion on a necklace that my wife gave me and have lots of photos of my daughters and family on my laptop. So that s another great thing about coming home for the Open, you get to catch up with family and friends. I look forward to the Australian public getting behind us next month at Royal Sydney. There is so much Aussie talent right now on the international golf circuit, so it s the prefect chance to watch some of the game s greats. Here s hoping to a successful Aussie summer all round.
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