In his own words, Geoff Ogilvy has been through a rough couple of years. Following the 2011 Australian Masters, where he finished third, Ogilvy was ranked 36 in the world. Fast forward to this year&aposs edition of the tournament and he&aposs ranked 120 in the world following nine missed cuts in a season where finished second at the Honda Classic earlier in the year. “Golf is a weird game. I mean the harder you try sometimes the worse it gets so it feels like it s turning around. I hit the ball pretty well the last two tournaments I have played in the U.S,” Ogilvy said on Tuesday. “The first two tournaments of next year s schedule I played in Vegas and California. Didn t make many putts but kind of played okay so it feels like it is turning around. The corner is coming, I think, hopefully.” For the 36 year-old, Royal Melbourne Golf Club is as big a home game as there is having grown up around the corner. As he noted on Tuesday, he&aposll know the layout as well as anyone on the field. “As soon as they said there is a tournament on the Sandbelt I get pretty excited, especially Royal Melbourne. So hopefully, I mean, I probably know the course as well as anyone in the field so if I play well and hit the ball in the right spots and make a few putts there s no reason why I can t get right up there,” Ogilvy said. The 2006 U.S Open champion turned professional in 1998 and noted that rather than growing tired of the sport, he can grow tired of Tour life. “I don t think I ever fell out of love with the game. I might have fallen out of love with the PGA Tour every now and then. But just the idea of packing up on Friday is not that fun. Not that I have missed that many cuts but more that I have been used to. It doesn’t last for very long but, yes, I have had some I wouldn t say fall out of love with the game but some moments of extreme frustration,” he said. In a challenging year, Adam Scott&aposs victory proved a pick-me-up for a struggling Ogilvy. As well as being one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history, it proved to Ogilvy and others on Tour that the Aussies were up to it. “It’s not just Adam. More of us can do this,” Ogilvy said. “So hopefully it can become like a stepping stone for it or a kick off, or whatever you call it, tipping point, pick whatever phrase you want and get it all going. I mean, if you actually if you look at a lot of times when countries have great periods of golf, I mean, our kind of late 90s through the 2000s was really strong and that just happens to be 15 or so years after Greg was the best in the world.” After the Masters, Ogilvy will take a week off before heading to Sydney to play the Emirates Australian Open. His last victory worldwide came at the Open in 2010 at The Lakes.
Author: Golf Australia