Ogilvy finally gets on a hot streak

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Geoff Ogilvy had struggled for much of the season, but he could finally pick up another win this week at East Lake.

ATLANTA -- Geoff Ogilvy says he can usually tell when he's about to get on a hot streak.

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The one he's riding right now was a long time coming, too. But it looks like it may have been worth the wait.

For the second time in three weeks, Ogilvy finds himself in the hunt in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. And Thursday's 66 put the cerebral Aussie in a three-way tie for the lead at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola where the $10 million bonus is on the line.

Three weeks ago, though, Ogilvy was hardly a lock for the Playoffs finale at East Lake after he missed the cut at The Barclays and tumbled 14 spots to No. 52 in the standings. But a tie for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship changed everything as Ogilvy jumped 43 spots to ninth.

"It's a good result for me to be here," Ogilvy said. "It was nice to end the year like this. It was a pretty disappointing summer to say the least, so to finish on a little bit of a high note is going to be nice."

That's certainly how Ogilvy started the year as he successfully defended his title at the SBS Championship in the season-opener at Kapalua. A month later, he and his wife Juli welcomed their third child -- all under the age of 4 -- and prepared to move from Scottsdale to San Diego.

"And anyone who's had multiple children knows that progressively it's exponential, the craziness that happens in your house each one you add," Ogilvy said with a knowing smile.

His game suffered -- but not because of the new baby at home. Ogilvy simply had played too much golf during an offseason that began with an appearance in The Presidents Cup and continued back home in Australia. So after the win in Hawaii, the eight-time PGA TOUR champ went 15 events before he posted another top-10.

"It was just a perfect storm," Ogilvy said. "... I didn't hole any putts, and you find yourself in that mindset of I'd rather just be at home with my family this week as opposed to being out here. I think I was just a bit over golf until the end of last year. I think regardless of what was happening at home, I was due for a flat period, I think."

Ogilvy learned from the experience, though, and he's looking forward to a "real, real offseason" that includes a six-week break after he buries his final putt on Sunday. Until then, though, he's got $10 million reasons to concentrate on the task at hand.

Ogilvy, who led the FedExCup standings for the first six weeks of the year, knows he ended up sneaking into the Playoffs at the figurative last minute. So while he doesn't really feel like he's being rewarded for a season-long performance he's gotten on one of his hot streaks at just the right time.

"When you finished top 30 at the end of the year usually you felt like that, and I don't feel like that this year," Ogilvy said. "But that's the nature of these Playoffs. If you have a good week in the first three weeks, the top two or three, you get to come here. That's just the way it is, and I managed to do that."

Ogilvy isn't exactly sure why his season turned around three weeks ago. His putter hadn't been cooperative and his confidence had waned but after three rounds of 66 or better at TPC Boston, Ogilvy's outlook has improved. Like many, he battled Cog Hill but a closing 68 sent him to Atlanta on a high.

"I played well in Boston and I felt like I really played well in Chicago," he said. "That golf course the way we played it this year in Chicago, it was very hard to feel like you were playing well. ... It was just a course that beat you up. But when I finished I looked back and I hit under par on Sunday. I thought actually I played quite well. If I had holed a couple putts on Thursday and Friday I would have been right there.

"So Chicago was a continuation of how I played in Boston, I just didn't get much out of it. Today was the same, but I got something out of it."

Ogilvy gave himself plenty of chances in the first round when he said "nothing was amazing but nothing was really badly." He closed the front nine with three straight birdies and bounced back from a bogey on the par-5 15th with birdie putts of 3 and 6 feet on the next two holes.

"I didn't take any swings at my bag with the putter after the 15th hole, but I wasn't too cheerful walking to the 16th," Ogilvy recalled. "But it's only Thursday. I felt pretty good about my chances to finish 2 or 3 under.

"Anything under par was a good score today, so I wasn't too disappointed."

Ogilvy wouldn't mind riding the hot streak a little longer and ending the season with the bookend victory. But at the same time he's eagerly anticipating the six-week break and wants to be fresh for 2011 when The Presidents Cup will be played in Melbourne, Australia, where he has a second home.

"Yes, I am playing well, and it would be nice if I had started playing like this in June, but I feel like I'm over a hump and I feel like I've learned a lot," Ogilvy said. "You probably learn more about your game when you have rough patches than when you have good patches. Everyone says that anyway, so I hope that's true."