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With the strongest field in more than a century, Greg Norman believes up to 30 players could win this week’s Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.
Four of the world’s top 10 players – including Norman’s predicted No.1-in-waiting Jason Day and fellow Australian Adam Scott – plus another four from the top 20, a host of US PGA stars, six major winners and no less than a dozen former Open champs will tee off on Thursday.
Little wonder five-times champion Norman can’t pick a victor from the 156-man field in which bookmakers list Scott alongside struggling 14-times major winner Tiger Woods as joint favourites.
“There are probably 30 guys this week who can win the golf tournament,” Norman said on Monday.
“Normally there’s probably 10 to 12 or 15 and you can double that number this week.”
American Dustin Johnson is the top-ranked player at No.4 in the world and believes he has every chance of following in the footsteps of Norman and other legends like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson and Norman Von Nida in lifting the Stonehaven Cup.
“I go to every tournament to win,” the big-hitting Johnson said after having his first look at the course on Monday.
“I had a decent year. I played good. I played a little better at the end of the year. If I get the putter going, we’ll be alright.”
Johnson is in Australia for the first time but doesn’t believe he’ll be at a disadvantage to the local hopes, including Scott and fellow former champions Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard, John Senden, Stephen Allen, Greg Chalmers, Peter Senior and titleholder Geoff Ogilvy.
“We’re going to have a great field this week, especially with the Presidents Cup being here (in Australia next week),” Johnson said.
“We’ve got a lot of good players playing this year and I think they’ve done a great job with the golf course.
“The grass is good, the fairways are in good shape, the greens are good; they’re rolling pretty good.
“It’s been a while since I played an event. I’ve come out and been working hard so we’ll see how things go.”
Declaring global golf in the healthiest state he could remember, Norman nominated 23-year-old Day as our best chance of bursting from the hungry pack of international hopefuls to become Australia’s second-ever world No.1 after the Shark.
“I really love Jason Day. He’s young enough, he’s keen enough, he’s hungry enough,” Norman said.
“He’s got seven years on Adam, or whatever it is, and Adam’s still got that opportunity to be that, no question.
“His game has turned around, no question about it, but from a young player – I don’t call a guy in his 30s young anymore – a guy in his 20s like Jason Day, he’s really got it.
“I really like the way he plays and I like his humility. He’s just down to earth. He hasn’t forgotten where he’s come from and he’s just a good-hearted, simple, easy-going guy that just loves to play the game of golf.”