By Wayne Heming
December 8th 2008 @ 6:13am
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Tiger on the prowl would be awesome, says Ogilvy
Newly-crowned Australian PGA champion Geoff Ogilvy says the impact of luring Tiger Woods back to Australia would be massive for the game.
The golf world was buzzing today with reports Woods - the winner of 14 majors - was all set to agree to tee up in next year’s Masters at Kingston Heath, a tournament organised by his management company, IMG.
The Victorian Major Events Company, an arm of the state Government which already backs the Masters, is understood to be financially behind the bold bid which would cost around $US4 million ($A6.21 million), or 10 times the tournament’s winners’ purse, to pull off.
Woods played in the 1996 windswept Australian Open won by Greg Norman and also the 1997 Masters at Huntingdale.
He hasn’t played in Australia since the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne when the Norman-led Internationals upset his US team.
As the player who halted Woods’ record streak of seven straight tournament victories in the World Championship at Doral in March this year, Ogilvy knows what it’s like to beat the Tiger.
He also knows the impact having him play in Australia would have.
Asked on Sunday after his breakthrough win on home soil what it would mean if Woods came out to Australia, Ogilvy said “it would be awesome”.
“I don’t understand the economics of it all, but if you get rid of that part, it would be unbelievable,” he said.
“He’s been here before. He’s going to go down on a whole new level, he’s going to go down with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Bobby Jones, level in history.
“He’s a pretty stunning golfer. He makes all of us look pretty silly.”
Ogilvy said Woods, who hasn’t played since undergoing knee surgery after winning the US Open in June, created at atmosphere at tournaments much like when Greg Norman prowled Huntingdale’s fairways.
He said with himself, Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby and Peter Lonard, Australia had some good players to throw at him.
“We could stack some pretty good players against him, it would be a pretty stunning tournament,” said Ogilvy.
“Imagine the long term impact on the kids who would want to pick up golf clubs just because Tiger hit it.
“Imagine 25,000 people leaving the golf course telling everyone they watched Tiger Woods play and the amazing impact it could have.”
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