Aussie's hope for continued success on TOUR in '07  PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents KAPALUA, Hawaii -- The 2006 PGA TOUR season ended as it began with yet another Australian in the winner's circle. And in between Stuart Appleby's third straight win at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and Adam Scott's victory at THE TOUR Championship, four more of their countrymen picked up PGA TOUR titles. If you're counting, and we are, that's eight TOUR wins for six Australians -- including Geoff Ogilvy's U.S. Open triumph. His victory was the first in a major for a man from Down Under since Greg Norman's 1993 British Open triumph at Royal St. George's. Norman, who once held the No. 1 spot in the world for 331 straight weeks, set the standard by which all Australian golfers will be measured. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001, he won 20 PGA TOUR titles and 68 international events. "Six years straight No. 1, he was our man," Appleby said. "He was Australian and that's been pretty tough on the players; a lot of pressure there. We don't have anyone like that right now to achieve that. Adam Scott is our potential, but you've got a guy called Tiger Woods on top of everybody."  (Sam Greenwood/WireImage)
Norman's persona looms so large in the land of Oz that it's only recently golf fans in Australia have given their home-grown players their due. November's well-attended MFS Australian Open was one example. "For the longest time, ... every time we had an Australian Open with great fields, the press would write the whole time about how bad the field was," Ogilvy said. "It wasn't that bad. It just didn't have any foreigners in it. ... "The last couple of years, we've won six or seven times a year and come away with some majors and big events, Adam and Stuart winning big events. They are finally acknowledging that we have some decent players, and we don't need a whole bunch of these international guys to have a good field. "It helps and adds flavor to it, but it doesn't mean the field is lacking because an Australian is in it. It actually makes it strong. It's a positive over here (in the U.S.) and a negative in Australia." Scott agreed. "I think they're starting to realize that we have some of the best players in the world, and they're appreciating our games," he said. "I think it's being taken more seriously now." There will be 24 Australians playing on the PGA TOUR in 2007, one more than a year ago and 10 more than in 2002. No other country has as many TOUR players with South Africa (9) and Sweden (8) the next closet. Norman at his peak hardly had so many players to push him. Ian Baker-Finch, who at 46 is five years younger than Norman, won the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale before his game inexplicably deserted him. Steve Elkington, who is seven years younger, counts the 1995 PGA among his 10 TOUR titles. In terms of head-to-head battles, though, Norman's chief rival was the taciturn Brit, Nick Faldo, a six-time major champion. "Greg was playing against Greg a lot of times," Ogilvy admitted. "He got his rivals in other places. I don't know, we're all still trying to beat Tiger, aren't we? He's the true rival of everybody. He's the best." The current crop of Aussies, though, is making progress with Scott ranked No. 4 and Ogilvy 10th in the world. Only the United States with Woods, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson at the top of the chart has more players in the top 10. Scott, who looked to Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods' first teacher, to hone his game, is the heir apparent. The 26-year-old, who started 2006 at No. 8, has made no secret of his desire to replace Woods at the top within the next five years. Appleby says Australian golfers knew that to improve they'd have to eventually leave home and play against the best in Europe or America. He didn't play college golf. He bought his own equipment. He learned how to budget for travel by trial and error. "I certainly think that it was a lot harder for Australian golfers, and I think in a way, that toughened us up," he said. "It is a different system, it's a working system. ... And we had a role model." Now, the Aussies have each other. They are a close-knit bunch that frequently plays practice rounds together. And while they celebrate each other's success -- Scott stayed behind to party with Ogilvy after his victory at Winged Foot -- they are also motivated by it. "It's going to help, actually, with a bunch of Australians sneaking up to the top 30 or 40 in the world," Ogilvy said. "Adam is already fourth in the word, but Stuart -- (it) wouldn't be surprising if he ends the year top five or six. There's a few other guys who could be right up there by the end of the year. "You're happy if an Australian wins. If Adam wins a tournament, you're pumped for him, but you're like, oohh, I have to win another one to catch up. It's good, it's a healthy rivalry. ... "I think that's part of the reason we play so well, one guy wins and you want to win more." |
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