Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy is hoping to turn a &aposfrustrating&apos season into an unforgettable year by claiming back-to-back Emirates Australian Open crowns at The Lakes Golf Club this week. Finger and shoulder injuries restricted the Victorian to 21 starts on the PGA Tour this season, with a third place finish in September&aposs BMW Championship his best result of the campaign. Ogilvy cut his finger in a freak accident in Hawaii in January which sidelined him for a month before injuring his shoulder on the way to a T4 finish at the Masters in April. “It was frustrating,” Ogilvy said of his 2011 season. “It&aposs (his shoulder) my first real injury and it made me appreciate how difficult it is to play after an injury.” “Everyone seems to struggle when they come back from an injury and I always wondered why, and now I know I guess.” “It&aposs frustrating because I was playing as good as I&aposve ever played in January probably, and I was playing good in the Masters and really looking forward to going on for the rest of the year and it just didn&apost work out.” Ogilvy finished 12th in the Shanghai Masters a fortnight ago and in a share of 56th at last week&aposs HSBC Champions event. While he concedes his game is &aposjust not as sharp&apos as this time last year, he is quietly confident heading in. “There was a few rounds in the eight that I played in China where there was lots of good stuff, but when you roll a couple of putts over the edge of the hole and have a couple of things go wrong at the wrong time it makes a big difference,” he said. “Hopefully if I can make a few putts and keep hitting it like I&aposm hitting it&aposll be alright. But the 34-year-old knows getting his name on the Stonehaven Cup for the second time won&apost be easy against a loaded 156-man field. “Winning this week will be a pretty good feather in your cap because this is as good a field as you&aposll get pretty much anywhere,” he said. “It&aposs a special tournament to win as an Australian, when you get to the end of your career and you look back and having an Australian Open on your resume&aposs going to be pretty satisfying.” Ogilvy expects the strong American contingent, which includes eight members of the United States Presidents Cup team, to adapt quickly to the tricky Lakes layout. “I think they&aposll do well, they don&apost see courses exactly like this in the US but they won&apost be intimidated by all the water stuff, they&aposre very long a lot of these guys,” he said. “Bill Haas is playing very well, Hunter (Mahan) plays well every week these days and Tiger (Woods) is obviously a threat every time he tees it up.” “Dustin Johnson, he&aposll be fun for everyone to watch and he&aposs one that people should go and watch play a few holes because he hits the ball miles so he&aposs fun to watch.” “There&aposs a lot of guys, this is a world-class field, it&aposs almost impossible, it&aposs like trying to pick a winner in a US tour event, it&aposs going to be pretty hard.”
Author: Steve Orme