Geoff Ogilvy is hoping to upstage American drawcard Jordan Spieth when he tees up in the marquee morning pairing of Thursday's Australian Open first round at Royal Sydney Golf Club.
Ogilvy and Spieth will play with amateur star Curtis Luck for the opening two rounds and, after a lean 2016, Australia's former US champion will be flying a little under the radar.
The gallery will inevitably be transfixed on Spieth, while many smart golf observers will also be keeping a close eye on Luck after the youngster's rare feat this year of qualifying twice for the 2017 Masters at Augusta.
But after recording just one top-10 finish and missing nine cuts on the US PGA Tour last season, Ogilvy has arrived in Sydney heartened by his fourth placing in Las Vegas earlier this month.
The world No.232 says the Royal Sydney layout suits his game better than The Lakes, where he won the Open in 2010, and has high hopes of again hoisting the Stonehaven Cup.
"I'm probably more motivated now than I have been for quite a while," Ogilvy said on Tuesday.
"I feel capable of playing better than I ever have. I feel like I know my game better than I ever have. I know how to get out of ruts, how to maximise the goof stuff. Hopefully it manifests in good scores, we'll see."
Despite a hectic schedule in the US, Ogilvy said he never thought about not returning home for the Australian Open.
"This is a major for us," he said.
"We probably get a bit blase about the Australian Open when we're over there (in the US) and we're playing and we're not really thinking about it.
"But as soon as we get here, it hits me every time I come back to this tournament how important this tournament is for us.
"It's is a major for the Australian players, so it'd be a great Christmas break if I could win this, my my last tournament for the year, and kind of springboard off this for next year."
Ogilvy, Spieth and Luck will hit off at 7.10am AEDT on Thursday.
Adam Scott features in the marquee afternoon group alongside two-time champion Aaron Baddeley and US PGA Tour star Jhonattan Vegas.
FEATURE FIRST-ROUND GROUPINGS FOR AUSTRALIAN OPEN GOLF AT ROYAL SYDNEY (all times AEDT, Australians unless noted):
0700: Robert Allenby, Peter Lonard, Conor Syme (a, SCO)
0710: Jordan Spieth (USA), Geoff Ogilvy, Curtis Luck (a)
0720: Greg Chalmers, Richard Green, Matthew Goggin
1200: Rod Pampling, Cameron Smith, Brett Coletta (a)
1210: Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
1220: John Senden, Peter Senior, Stephen Allan
Share
