Ogilvy kickstarts 2009 with Mercedes win

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 Mercedes-Benz Championship | Round Four | 12 Jan 2009

Geoff Ogilvy has started his 2009 PGA Tour campaign in the best possible style with a six shot win at the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

The winning margin was the same as that he enjoyed entering the final round but there were times during the final 18 holes where it appeared that Ogilvy’s lead could well be in jeopardy.

A shaky start with bogeys at his opening two holes gave his chasers hope and, although he staged a brief recovery, by the time he reached the 8th hole the difference had very quickly become just one with Anthony Kim closing fast.

Ogilvy could be forgiven for losing focus a little, after all he had led from the opening round, but like the class player he has become he found a way to recover, stretching his lead to three when he holed a 25 foot eagle at the 9th. That began a run of seven holes which he played in 7 under and he had moved to 24 under and the lead was once again six.

He would play the final three holes in even par and eventually cruised to his huge win.

To a large extent Ogilvy’s round was a round of two halves.

“I have never had that six up lead before and it’s a an uncomfortable feeling really,” said Ogilvy after his round. “I hit the wrong club on 7 and made bogey then a horrible shot on 8 and made bogey and I was feeling pretty frustrated at that time. But then the 3 iron on nine and I was pretty happy. When I walked up onto the green I saw I was only one ahead instead of six and the uncomfortable feeling disappeared.”

“All of a sudden I figured the lead was all but gone and it felt like a normal tournament again and told myself this is a great place to be one ahead after 63 holes. I holed the eagle putt and from then on in I was a different person, I played almost the best I had all week for the next five or six holes so the eagle was a key point in the round.”

“To win a golf tournament the first week – I mean what do I say? I’ve been traditionally a horrible starter on the West Coast and it has taken me a few events to get going but last year I missed my first three cuts but to win the first week is really nice and gives me a great feeling for the rest of the year.”

It continues a good run of form for Ogilvy in his last few events. He was third at the HSBC event in China, captured his maiden Australian title at the PGA Championship, finished 6th at the Australian Open and now this victory, his 5th USPGA Tour title. Ogilvy’s earnings on the PGA Tour are now more than US$17.5 million and clearly there is a lot more to come.

Anthony Kim pressed hard, especially early in the day, although his challenge faded in the wake of Ogilvy’s recovery. Kim was however able to produce perhaps the shot of the day at the 18th when his fairway wood finished 1 foot from the hole and his eagle there moved him to 18 under and alone in second place before Davis Love holed a 15 foot putt just a few minutes later to share second place with him.

Sean O’Hair produced the best round of the day (65) to finish alone in 4th position.

Adam Scott was the only other Australian in the field and he finished in a share of 18th at 9 under.

The PGA Tour now moves to Honolulu for this week’s Sony Open where a field of ten Australians will line up including Ogilvy.