Tee party: Back to work at last for young golf stars after two years on the starting blocks
Former US Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy hopes the time wasted waiting for Australian golf’s restart has made the next wave of talent more resilient.
The Australian PGA Championship will return to Royal Queensland Golf Club on Thursday in Brisbane, more than two years after Adam Scott lifted the Joe Kirkwood Cup at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
The inaugural Australian Womenās PGA Championship will run within the event, with men and women in mixed groups and an equal $180,000 winnerās cheque for both events.
Both the last two menās and womenās Australian Opens were cancelled due to Covid, while many other major events have been scrapped and social golf banned for long periods in Ogilvyās native Victoria.
The US Open champion and three-time World Golf Championships winner enjoyed a stellar career in the USA before returning home in 2019.
He will feature alongside emerging Australian Min Woo Lee in the tournamentās return this week, sympathetic of what his younger rivals have been through since.
āWe had golf then we didnāt, had it, didnāt,ā he said.
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āI feel a lot for these kids 19, 20, 21-years-old that were about to get on the airplane and go to a Q-school or join a tour.
āItās been put on hold and is tough, really awful time for that to happen but itāll build resilience and the desire would have got stronger.ā
He said Australian success abroad in both menās and womenās ranks ā most recently earlier this week in Hawaii with Cameron Smithās record-breaking US PGA Tour win ā had also helped.
āAustralians have won 20 or so tournaments in the last two years, incredible really and theyāre all friends (with the players in the Australian PGA Championship), so itās pretty inspirational,ā he said.
āThe guys in Japan have spent two years in hotel rooms ā¦ itās been tough, but feels like weāre in a really good state now.ā
The rescheduling of the Royal Queensland event to January has ruled out the attendance of any US-based stars, like Scott and two-time winner Smith.
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COVID-19 has also taken its toll, with LPGA drawcards Stephanie Kyriacou and Sarah Kemp both contracting the virus and ruled out on Wednesday.
Male contenders Matt Guyatt and Zach Kelly were also scratched after positive tests on Wednesday.
But Ogilvy, who created his own four-course-in-four days Sandbelt Invitational last year, said the entry list was irrelevant.
āAll pros are great players in my opinion and the focus should be on building great events,ā he said.
āWeāve had this all-or-nothing approach where unless there is top-10 players itās not worth having.
āPeople want to see guys do what they canāt do and everybody here can do that and everyone here is impressive.
āAnd you go for the contest and that doesnāt matter if itās 1000 in the world versus 900.ā
World No.49 and Scottish Open champion Lee made a strong start with a 3-under par 69, two strokes behind clubhouse leader Dylan Perry. Fellow Queenslander Aaron Pike was six under par late in his opening round.
Favourite Su Oh carded a five-under-par round to hold a four-stroke lead in the womenās event.
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