Aussie Masters - better late than never

BY Bruce Young | Australasian PGA Tour | 2011 Australian Masters | Preview | 13 Dec 2011

While the J.B. Were Australian Masters might have preferred a more attractive date in the golfing calendar than the last week of the 2011 golfing season, it has, nonetheless, managed to attract a field that is befitting a tournament of its standing in Australian golf.

The tournament is being played for the second occasion at the Victoria Golf Club, one of the finest layouts in Australian golf and one perhaps overlooked a little when Sandbelt courses are discussed. It is however a layout that has bounced back from the bad publicity it unfairly received when mistakes were made in the set up of the golf course during the Australian Open in 2002.

That should not have been a reflection on the golf course but rather those involved in the set-up that year. Following a successful return to tournament golf last year, however, the course is back where it belongs in terms of recognition amongst Australia’s great tournament layouts.

The event marks the third and final year of the sponsorship by J.B. Were of the event, their involvement ensuring the tournament has survived a difficult period for golf sponsorship. Their participation has assisted in having Tiger Woods as the star attraction in the event in each of the past two years and has provided the momentum for both the PGA Tour of Australasia and the event to build on Woods’s involvement in Melbourne.

The game’s hottest player and its number one, Luke Donald, is the star attraction following a week in Dubai where he secured the money list title on both sides of the Atlantic and further confirmed his position at the top of the world ranking.

Donald’s third placed finish last week moves him nearly three points ahead of his nearest pursuer at the top of the mathematically decided ranking in the game, much of that the result of his stunning consistency over the past twelve months.

Donald began 2011 as the 9th highest ranked player in the game and took over the number one mantle when he defeated Lee Westwood at the British PGA Championship at Wentworth in May. He has gone on to extend that lead ever since.

Ian Poulter at number 28 is the next highest ranked player in the field, the Englishman playing well enough in recent weeks, against considerably stronger fields than he will face here, to be a factor.

Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy is the next highest ranked player in the field and the leading Australasian in that respect although as we have seen in recent weeks on the Australasian Tour, world ranking status counts for little. Greg Chalmers was outside the top 200 when he won the Australian Open a month ago and outside the top 100 when he won the Australian PGA Championship.

Chalmers is now number 64 in the world and if he was to finish off the season by claiming the third leg of Australian golf’s triple-crown then he would move inside the top 50 and secure the chance to play the Masters in April for just the second time in his career. A second place finish may or may not be good enough although, with Donald in the field, the event carries significant ranking points.

Chalmers has such a lead on the 2011 PGA Tour of Australasia money list that he has that title already sewn up. The PGA Tour of Australasia has reduced the number of events required to be eligible for money list benefits down to two and at this stage Chalmers leads by a massive $A350,000 over John Senden. With only A$180,000 available to the winner this week then nothing will change in terms of Chalmers adding another achievement to his already outstanding Australian season.

Ogilvy’s standing in the field is followed in quick succession by John Senden, Matteo Manassero and Robert Allenby with Chalmers the 7th highest ranked player in the field.

Senden deserves consideration given his outstanding run of form late in the PGA Tour season and his two good tournaments in Australia.

Manassero has already won twice on the European Tour and will not turn 19 until May of next year. He is an exceptional talent and Australian golf can feel blessed to have the opportunity to see him play so early in his career. He has not really contended since late May but he has continued to make a lot of cuts and appears on track to become one of the greatest of all Italians.

Several leading Australians are missing including Adam Scott, Jason Day, Aaron Baddeley and Nick O’Hern although the Australian World Cup team of Richard Green and Brendan Jones are in the field and offer another dimension, more especially Jones who seldom plays in Australia because of his Japan Tour commitments.

One player who is not missing at this stage but just might be is the defending champion Stuart Appleby who is being bothered by a nasty back complaint and his fate in terms of teeing it up or not may not be determined until as late as his tee off time on Thursday.

Jones has had yet another good season in Japan, winning one of their flagship events, the Crowns, and finished in 15th position on their JGT Money list.

Green finished the European Tour season as the leading Australian, once again, this time in 65th position in the race to Dubai Standings.

Marcus Fraser has played very well in his last few events including when runner-up at the PGA Championship and a solid 11th at the Hong Kong Open. He has been runner-up in this event previously albeit when the event was played at the Huntingdale Golf Club.

Of further interest is the involvement in the tournament of Peter Lonard and Nathan Green both PGA Tour event winners in the past few years but both of whom have lost their way in recent times.

Green fought his way back from a slow start the recent PGA Tour School to grab one of the last 2012 PGA Tour cards on offer and will be back on the PGA Tour next year.

Two time winner of the event, Lonard, has only conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2012 and will be keen to get things heading back in the right direction this week after a tough season as he fought his way back from injury and surgery incurred in 2010.

Jarrod Lyle and former winner Rod Pampling both regained PGA Tour status late in the season, Lyle via Tour School and Pampling, after having virtually no PGA Tour status at the start of the year, did marvellously well to finish just insdie the all important top 125. Neither can be counted out.

The tournament is being played in the twilight of the 2011 golfing year but it nonetheless promises a fitting finale.

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