It was another successful year for the Australians in golf. With a history of producing successful golfers Australia is teaching their students the right thing. Foremost among Australian golf is Greg Norman, and while he’s hung up his spikes for the most part, the legacy he created and left for his country seems to be paying dividends.
Aussies were responsible for eight PGA and five LPGA victories in 2006. Out of a relatively small group of professionals has come a lot of success. Look for Aussie golf to continue to garner plenty of attention in coming years as a few of these players are really young and already successful. Join me for nine…
Hole One
Australians won eight PGA Tour events and a handful of LPGA events in 2006. Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy notched two while Rod Pampling, Aaron Baddeley, John Senden, and Adam Scott all walked away with one win.
I don’t know what they’ve got in the water in Australia but there are is a lot of talent coming from down under. Appleby, Ogilvy, Baddeley, and Scott aren’t going away any time soon.
Hole Two
Apparently no one but Stuart Appleby is allowed to win the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii. For three years he has started his season with a victory and it wouldn’t be wise to bet against him. He plays well in the wind and obviously comes off his winter-vacation in the right frame of mind.
Appleby added another victory in April 2006 at the Shell Houson Open with four very good rounds in the 60s.
Hole Three
Aaron Baddeley holds Australian and United States citizenship. Born in Lebanon, NH in 1981 he’s lived in Australia since he was two. He finally lived up to a standard he set for himself early in this career by snagging his first PGA Tour victory at the 2006 Verizon Heritage. I love watching golf at Hilton Head. Baddely beat out Jim Furyk with a clutch putt on the final hole.
He was 73rd on the money list in 2003 (his rookie season), 124th in 2004, 78th in 2005, and 55th in 2006. He’s got a beautiful swing and can hit the ball a long way.
Hole Four
Geoff Ogilvy had an outstanding 2006, notching two victories. While someone was saying, “I’m such an idiot,” at the U.S. Open Ogilvy was chipping in and getting up-and-down for par on the way to victory. “I think I was the beneficiary of a little bit of charity,” said Ogilvy in a post-round interview.
Not only did he win the U.S. Open he won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier in the year. While fairly soft-spoken his game speaks volumes.
Hole Five
Australia’s most successful female golfer enjoyed a revival in 2006. Karrie Webb was in a bit of a slump since 2003 when she won the John Q. Hammonds Hotel Classic, the Kellog’s Classic in 2004, and was blanked in 2005.
She came out swinging in 2006 making a case for player of the year honors by winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, Evian Masters, Longs Drug Challenge, and Mizuno Classic. Not a bad way to bounce back.
Hole Six
Rod Pampling made 21 cuts out of 24 events on the PGA Tour, notched six top-tens, and snuck away with a victory at the Merrill Lynch Shootout with playing partner Jerry Kelly.
He managed to finish 17th on the PGA Tour money list. At 99th (288.2) in driving distance Pampling isn’t setting any distance records but he is a better-than-average putter with 1.745 putts per GIR which puts him 11th in putting average. He ranks sixth in putts per round at 26.44.
Hole Seven
John Senden has been playing in the United States regularly since 2002 and he grabbed his first PGA Tour victory this year at the John Deere Classic. His 19-under final score including a final round 6-under 65 notched out J.P. Hayes (-18).
Impressively he was third in greens in regulation in 2006, so it’s no surprise that his putting average is a little higher at 1.791 (139th).
Hole Eight
Adam Scott had his best year in the majors in 2006 with two top-tens. He added a second Singapore Open to his resumé and won The Tour Championship to snag the final event of the year. He finished the season with a career-best third on the PGA Tour money list ($4,978,858).
Fourth in the world golf rankings more than a point behind second ranked Jim Furyk and a full 14 points behind first place Tiger Woods, he still has his sights set on being number one in the world. Unfortunate for anyone with such lofty goals is that they’re playing in the same era as Woods.
Hole Nine
No discussion of Australian golfers would be complete without at least mentioning Greg Norman. Norman didn’t accomplish much on the golf course in 2006. Some might have expected to see Norman play a little more golf this year but back problems and business have kept him off the fairways.
With 20 PGA Tour, 14 European Tour, and 33 Australasian, and 21 other titles Norman has hung up his spikes in favor of business. Norman owns several very successful business interests: Greg Norman Production Company (event management), Greg Norman Golf Course Design, Medallist Developments, (real estate development), Greg Norman Collection (apparel), Greg Norman Estates (wine), and Greg Norman Interactive (www.shark.com), along with his licensing and merchandising deals.