A clearly delighted Geoff Ogilvy hoisted the Stonehaven Cup high this afternoon declaring his first Australian Open title was right up there with his big international wins.
“This is the 90 year old trophy, this is the real jewel,” the US Open winner said.
Ogilvy started the day with a five shot buffer and was never headed.
Whenever there seemed a glimmer of hope for the chasing pack, particularly his playing partner, Sydney’s Matt Jones, the opportunity soon evaporated.
Ogilvy, with eight other international career titles including 3 WGC events, finished with a three under par 69 to end the tournament on 19 under.
Jones hung in there for most of the day but in the end never got close enough to put real pressure on the champion.
The defining point probably came on the 184 metre par three 15th when Ogilvy got what he called a “bizarre bounce” and Jones put his tee shot close.
What looked like it could be a two stroke turnaround fizzled when Ogilvy scrambled a par and Jones missed his relative sitter birdie chance.
In the end, Jones (68) and Victorian Alistair Presnell (67) shared second place with 15 under.
“Today was probably the day I struggled most with my game,” Ogilvy said after his round, “but all I had to do was not mess up really.”
Winning a title he has obviously long coveted was a big turnaround in a year that was looking a little short on highlights.
“I won the first week and then play relatively horrible golf all year,” Ogilvy said.
“I didn’t enjoy golf as much this year because how I was playing. But anytime you win an Australian Open you’ll look back and think you’ve had a great year.”
The PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia now moves to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for the staging of the 2010 Australian PGA Championship.
