Sports Then and Now

Geoff Ogilvy is looking for a return to previous U.S. Open glory.

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, will this week be hoping that history can repeat itself as he bids to double his haul of major wins by finishing top of the pile when the action gets under way at the Congressional Country Golf Club on Thursday.

The final day of that epic event five years ago – when Phil Mickelson experienced a rush of blood to the head and Colin Montgomerie choked under the pressure to leave the Australian at the head of the field on the 72nd hole of the competition will linger long in the memories of golf fans around the world – but what is often forgotten about in all the madness that followed, was Ogilvy’s sweet tee shot on the par-three 16th in the final round which ended up just a yard from the hole and allowed him to pick up his fifth birdie in a row as he charged towards victory. The US Open golf betting odds indicate he will need a lot of luck if he is to repeat that win.

Ogilvy is yet to hit the sort of heady heights that he scaled on that fateful day half a decade ago, but he is still easily capable of replicating his glorious win when this year’s tournament gets underway on Thursday. This season he has seen his time on the course curtailed by injury – a freak hand injury caused when he slipped on a coral reef in Maui, and a lingering shoulder issue. But as he showed at the Masters earlier this season – where he finished tied for fourth after briefly sharing a slice of the lead with just nine holes to go – he is clearly saving his best for the majors, and is keen to not let his health worries bother him. Those following the US Open golf betting will have their doubts though and he could struggle.

“You don’t really know what’s going to happen after an injury [but] it feels 100 per cent right now. You’ve got to feel your way back in and, hopefully, you don’t forget how to play golf – but it is a bit of an unknown,” he said.

‘The US Open tests a player’s short-game – more so that virtually any other tournament – and as such the Australian will feel confident that he will be amongst the leaders come the end of the weekend, boasting as he does an impressive range of shots and near perfect technique.