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Even the travel-weary Americans are enjoying the buzz around the Australian Open at The Lakes.
The Open gets underway on Thursday with nine of the world’s top 25 players teeing off, not to mention major-winning drawcards Greg Norman, Fred Couples and John Daly.
The tournament marks the start of a hot summer of golf down under, with next week’s Presidents Cup between Norman’s Internationals outfit and the Couples-captained USA team at Royal Melbourne looming as the highlight.
The Australian PGA at Coolum later this month and then the Masters at the Victoria Golf Club are set to provide a thrilling conclusion.
Even big-hitting Bubba Watson, despite a draining long-haul flight from the States, says it’s exciting to be a part of.
“I think the way they did the Presidents Cup in the middle of these two tournaments is great for Australian golf. I think it is great for world golf,” Watson said on Wednesday.
“This field is huge. It is good for the kids coming up to see this. To see the Presidents Cup with all the Aussies who are playing, I think it is going to be great for the fans.
“Again, it is going to keep building the game in Australia. The more the game grows down here, the more golf courses are going to thrive and more juniors are going to get out and play golf.
“It is becoming a world game so it is great on that aspect. I hope my team wins next week.”
Watson, the world No.17, is among the favourites this week, but admits he’s still trying to recover from the jetlag and acclimatise to Australian conditions before thinking about hoisting the Stonehaven Cup.
“I left on Saturday and got here Monday, however that works out,” he said.
“The travel, I have been going to sleep really early. I need to get over that real quick. It is different. You are learning a new golf course. You are learning different grasses, different winds.
“You learn that the air is a little bit thicker in the wind here. When the ball is into the wind it goes a lot shorter. It is totally different to what we are used to. It is a learning experience.”
Watson features in one of the marquee groupings of the first round on Thursday, off the 10th tee early with defending champion Geoff Ogilvy and fellow American Bill Haas, the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup winner.
That trio tees off at 7.15am AEDT, followed by Norman with two-time champion Aaron Baddeley and world No.5 Dustin Johnson, the highest-ranked player in the 156-man field.
Tiger Woods and leading Australian hopes Adam Scott, Jason Day, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby all have afternoon tee times.