Having watched the Wallabies’ dismal 51-20 record loss to the All Blacks, Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian swim team, and the combination of Stuart Appleby and Jason Day restored Australia’s credibility on the international sporting stage.
Ricciardo won his third Formula One Grad Prix of the year in Belgium, beating world championship leader Nico Rosburg and Valtteri Bottas.
The happy-go-lucky 25-year-old from Perth is a breath of fresh air in his attitude and ability.
He lies third on the world drivers’ championship table behind Rosburg and Lewis Hamilton.
And the best part? Despite his relative inexperience, Ricciardo keeps stitching up his senior Red Bull partner Sebastian Vettel, something Mark Webber had trouble doing on a regular basis.
Let’s have more of Danny Ricciardo, and more of Cate Campbell.
Campbell headlined a great Pan Pacs team performance, with her four golds among the ten the Australians won at the Gold Coast, eight silver and eight bronze, second only to the Americans’ fourteen gold, twelve silver and fourteen bronze.
The Australian swim team is back in business, the London 2012 Olympics debacle a faint memory.
Wallabies take note.
And take note of Stuart Appleby and Jason Day in finishing second to American Hunter Mahan’s 14-under at the Barclays, the first of four playoff tournaments for the FedExCup.
Appleby hasn’t won on the USPGA tour since 2010 when he shot 59 in the final round to win the Greensboro.
The 43-year-old fired in a final round 65 with five birdies on the way home to finish at 12-under.
Day shared the 54-hole lead with veteran American Jim Furyk at 9-under, but couldn’t sink the vital putts to card a 68, with six birdies and three bogeys to be 12-under as well.
The US Open got underway on Monday night at Flushing Meadows, with the results likely to be more Wallabies than Danny Ricciardo and Cate Campbell.
The difference being while rugby fans expected a whole lot more from the Wallabies, the standard of Australian tennis is embarrassing.
Loose cannon Matteo Matosevic is drawn against five-times US Open champion Roger Federer, lion-hearted Lleyton hewitt has drawn sixth seed Tomas Berdych, the promising Nick Kyrgios will be up against 21st seed veteran Mikhail Younzhny, while Barnard Tomic will battle Germany’s Dustin Brown.
In the ladies, hot and cold Sam Stosur, the 24th seed and 2011 US Open champion, will meet American Laura Davis. Casey Dellacqua, the 29th seed, has drawn Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, while Jarmila Gajdosova will have to contend with the 27th seed Madison Keys from the USA.
Not a pretty sight, but neither were the Wallabies.