Expectations in Australian golf were at an all-time high heading into 2007 and with good reason.

The previous year Geoff Ogilvy had ended an 11-year wait for another male major winner, claiming the US Open, to headline a season when an Australian seemingly held aloft a tournament trophy every other week.

This year a maturing crop of players appeared set to rival the United States as the world’s dominant golfing nation, including 2006 US PGA Tour event winners Ogilvy (twice), Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby (twice), Aaron Baddeley, John Senden and Rod Pampling.

On the women’s side, Karrie Webb had returned to form and declared her intention to regain the world’s No.1 ranking, while the likes of Nikki Garrett and Sarah Kemp were on the rise.

It was all set up for an unprecedented season of success in 2007.

Unfortunately, for the most part, achievements fell well short of those lofty expectations.

Only two managed to win tournaments on the main US Tour – Baddeley at the FBR Open in February and Scott’s Houston Open triumph in early April.

For the next nine months Aussies regularly contended, but failed to win another event.

It is widely accepted that world No.7 Scott is the most talented of the present group, despite his persistent troubles on the green, and he did have another solid season in the US.

He only missed two cuts from 19 events, but one was at the US Open and he failed to finish in the top 10 in any of the three other majors.

The 27-year-old summed it up well himself when he admitted that, by this stage of his career, he should simply be winning more regularly.

“I feel like I’m getting to the prime of my career and I should be winning more often,” he said.

“I think winning three, four or five events would be a good year, a great year.”

While Scott wasn’t overly thrilled with his season, if there was one Australian stand-out on the American tour it would have to be Baddeley.

The Victorian finished tenth on the moneylist with $A4.03 million to be the leading Australian, just ahead of Scott ($A3.99 million).

For Baddeley, however, the enduring memory of his 2007 will be a final-round meltdown at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Leading heading into Sunday and paired with Tiger Woods, Baddeley triple bogeyed the first hole en route to an 80 and equal 13th.

But the devout Christian, who won his fourth title on home soil in last month’s Australian Masters, would only take positives from the experience.

“I look back at that last day, even though I didn’t finish the way I wanted to, there were so many positives to take out of it,” he said.

“So there was no point even dwelling on the 80.

“It was great for me that my game was at that level to be leading a major.”

While the established players largely failed to fire, Australia’s young talent continued to blossom, led by Queenslander Jason Day.

A wrist injury kept Day out of the recent Australasian events, but he created plenty of excitement after his American exploits in 2007.

At 19, Day became the youngest ever winner of a US PGA Tour-sponsored tournament with his victory in the Nationwide Tour’s Legend Financial Group Classic in July.

The record he broke had stood for almost a century, beating by three months Johnny McDermott’s 1911 US Open triumph.

Day finished fifth on the Nationwide moneylist to ensure his 2008 US PGA Tour card and has already boldly stated his aim to one day knock Woods off for the world’s No.1 ranking.

And he has plenty of support.

“You almost have to dampen the enthusiasm there’s such big wraps on him,” Australian Open executive chairman Paul McNamee said.

“He’s clearly someone we’re seeing at the beginning of what could be a great career.”

Former US Amateur champion Nick Flanagan will join Day, earning direct promotion to the PGA Tour after becoming the first non-American to win three times on the Nationwide Tour.

He capped the year by also becoming the first non-American voted Nationwide player of the year.

Flanagan will be joined on the main US Tour by Brett Rumford and David Lutterus, who made it through Q-School.

On top of Baddeley’s Australian Masters victory, Craig Parry was a popular victor of the Australian Open in Sydney, while Peter Lonard returned to form with his third Australian PGA title at Coolum.

Webb failed to live up to expectations, finishing the year without a US victory, although she did grab the No.2 ranking back from Annika Sorenstam to sit behind runaway leader Lorena Ochoa of Mexico.

Garret, 23, won twice in two weeks in May on the Ladies European Tour, while compatriot Joanne Mills finished 10th on the moneylist with 150,809 euros ($A254,080), winning the Wales Ladies Championship in August.

AUSTRALIAN GOLF IN 2007:

AUSTRALIAN TOURNAMENT WINNERS:

Aaron Baddeley – FBR Open, Australian Masters.

Adam Scott – Houston Open.

Peter Lonard – Australian PGA

Craig Parry – Australian Open

Nikki Garrett – Tenerife Ladies Open, Open de Espana Femenino
Karrie Webb – Women’s Australian Open, ANZ Ladies Masters
Joanne Mills – Wales Ladies Championship

AUSTRALIAN AWARD WINNERS:

Nationwide Tour player of the year – Nick Flanagan

LEADING MONEY WINNERS – US PGA Tour (overall position, player, earnings in US dollars, tournaments played):

10. Aaron Baddeley $3.44 million 23

11. Adam Scott $3.41 million 19

14. Geoff Ogilvy $2.94 million 22

27. Robert Allenby $2.22 million 28

45. Stuart Appleby $1.80 million 24

MEN’S MAJOR WINNERS AND LEADING AUSTRALIAN:

US Masters

Winner Zach Johnson (US).

Leading Australian – Stuart Appleby (Tied 7th)

US Open

Winner Angel Cabrera (ARG)

Leading Australian – Aaron Baddeley (Tied 13th)

British Open

Winner Padraig Harrington (IRL)

Leading Australian – Richard Green (Tied 4th)

US PGA Championship

Winner Tiger Woods (US)

Leading Australian – John Senden (Tied 4th)

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