Geoff Ogilvy 2006 US Open

Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy and his coach Dale Lynch on winning their first major, The US Open at Winged Foot NY. He hung tough and kept himself in a position on a course that anything could happen on, and it did! Geoff was quoted as saying earlier in the week that he wanted to get himself in a position with 9 holes to play to see how he could handle the opportunity.
Many peoply will argue that the trophy was handed to him, with first Jim Furyk missing a short putt, then Colin Montgomerie a double bogey 6 on the 18th from the middle of the fairway and "what will Phil do next?" another double on the last when a bogey at worst would get him in a play off. Geoff's up and down on the last after being terribly unlucky to roll off the front of a green when he hit a great shot out of a sand filled divot from the fairway, will go down in my mind as one of the most couragous saves of all time. He gave himself a chance and the pressure of the final hole of the US Open did the rest. Geoff was left the last man standing at 5 over par which was the highest winning score since Hale Irwin's 7 over at Winged Foot in 1974.
I first gave Geoff some early fundemental lessons when he was a 13 year old in 1990 and to me his prodigious talent was obvious back then. I was asked in 2000 by the media in the USA who I thought would be better out of Aaron Badderly and Adam Scott and my reply was Geoff Ogilvy. It got a few laughs at the time, but I was quite serious because I saw a certain mental toughness and skill in Geoff that was very similar to Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby. Geoff has been coached by Dale Lynch since he was 15 and came into the Victorian Institute of Sport program when he was 16. Dale Lynch and I were the founding Head Coaches of the VIS and proudly look back to the graduates of that era and their achievments. Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Richard Green, Aaron Badderly to name just a few. We now have 15 US Tour wins, 8 graduates gaining their US tour cards and Geoff's latest and far from last victoryin my mind, the 2006 US Open. My congratulations again go to Geoff and my good mate Dale Lynch on achieving a career long goal.