Geoff Ogilvy Running Away With It at the Australian Open

Geoff Ogilvy continued to make mince meat out of the Australian Open field in round three and now has a five shot lead heading to the final 18.

It doesn’t seem there’s a realistic scenario, barring a collapse of epic proportion, where Ogilvy will miss out on the win in Australia.  It’s really going to take the round of lifetime from a player behind him and that means low low 60’s.

Just look at the bookmakers’ numbers, as the eye popping (1-12) confidence the bookies are showing Ogilvy is indicative of how this one will most likely play out.

Someone has to be the books’ second choice even if there’s little chance they’ll come close to the winner’s circle on Sunday and that man is Matt Jones.

Jones is five back of Ogilvy at (-11) with 18 holes to play after a 71 in round three.  To have any chance of fighting for the title, Jones is going to have to clean things up a bit and play much more precise in round four.

The hometown boy from Sydney does have the game to play with Ogilvy, but this lead may just be too much for anyone to overcome, even a player with considerable experience like Jones.

He’s played the PGA Tour for the past three seasons and is obviously accustomed to playing against the world’s best.  To have a chance tomorrow, Jones will need a quick start on what has been a relatively difficult front nine this week.

With such an unlikely chance of winning, the bookmakers are hesitant to make any real commitment to Jones as he heads off at (12-1).

Third on the betting board is PGA Tour player Greg Chalmers who is six shots behind Geoff Ogilvy at (-10).  As with Jones, if Ogilvy’s lead was only a couple of shots he’d have a real chance at getting in the mix for victory, but even for a PGA Tour vet like Chalmers this seems like too much.

It would be safe to assume he’ll need to replicate and even improve on his third round 66 to have the slightest chance at victory.

With so many hurdles to overcome to have a chance, it seems spot on that he tee off at (20-1).

The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight   - Ben Hogan