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WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Global final represents changing nature of big-time golf  PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents MARANA, Ariz. -- Henrik Stenson is arguably one of the least known, but best young players never to have won a major. Geoff Ogilvy already has one of golf's crown jewels on his resume but he's hardly a household name yet, either.  Henrik Stenson has quietly worked his way up to No. 8 in the world ranking. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
The Swede and the Australian will meet Sunday in the 36-hole finale of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship -- marking the first time in the nine-year history of the event that an American has failed to make the title tilt. In many ways, Sunday's championship match reflects the changing nature of a game gone global. There are only six players from the United States currently in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Granted, the top three on that list -- Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson -- are Americans. You won't find another player from the United States until Davis Love III clocks in at No. 15, though. But you will find No. 13 Trevor Immelman of South Africa, who lost to Stenson 3 and 2 in the semifinals Saturday afternoon, and the Swede's quarterfinal victim, Australian Nick O'Hern, at No. 18. Each has two countrymen ranked in the top 20, too. Paul Casey, who was beaten by Ogilvy 5 and 4 in Saturday mornings' quarters, is ranked 14th in the world. He's one of three Englishmen in the top 20. Also among that group are players from Fiji, Ireland, Spain and Scotland. So the time has clearly come to look beyond a player's birthplace and focus on how well he plays the game -- which brings us to Sunday's championship match on the South Course at the Gallery at Dove Mountain. Stenson has quietly climbed to No. 8 in the world, occupying the same rarefied air as the likes of Vijay Singh and Mickelson. You might remember, too, that he secured the winning point for the Europeans in the Ryder Cup last fall -- but you would probably be one of the relative few on this continent. Stenson, who picked up his eighth European Tour victory when he beat Woods in Dubai last month, understands. But he hopes that his performance on Sunday, and in tournaments to come as he plays a full schedule on the PGA TOUR this year, will increase his profile. "I think America is a big country and golf is big, but I guess to some extent it's easy to just look at the tournaments within the United States and maybe forget a little bit about the rest of the world," said the 30-year-old Stenson, who is building a home in Orlando. "But I played pretty good for the last two years and made my way up the world rankings. I'm in a very nice position now and hopefully I can improve it over this weekend. I think just playing over here is going to make myself a little bit more familiar with the general golf fan."
Ogilvy, who is ranked 11th in the world, is one match away from successfully defending the title he won at La Costa last year. The man who survived the death march at Winged Foot last year is undefeated in 11 matches in this star-studded World Golf Championships event. The affable Aussie will probably have the bulk of the fans in this picturesque property at the foot of the Tortolita Mountains on his side. He married an American and has settled in Scottsdale, which is about 90 minutes from Tucson. "I don't know, who wins, Australians or Swedes, in Tucson?" the 29-year-old wondered aloud, grinning. "I don't know, I live in Arizona so hopefully if they read their media guide and realize where I live maybe they'll root for me." At the same time, Ogilvy knows he is just beginning to solidify his spot in golf's pecking order. He's won three times in the United States -- and two of those victories, ironically, have come this same week, and one in this same area. Ogilvy won the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, which was played opposite the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2005. A year later, he went to La Costa and bested the field of 64 in match play -- and finds himself in the championship match again on Sunday. "This week every year the last three years has been pretty good," Ogilvy said. "I don't know, whatever is on this week for the rest of time, I'll have to play the last week in February."
Of course, Father's Day weekend in June wasn't bad, either. Ogilvy did what so many others couldn't -- par the last hole at Winged Foot -- and he was handsomely rewarded, even if some remember Mickelson's collapse rather than Ogilvy's climb. Sunday offers both Stenson and Ogilvy a chance to further etch their names in golf's consciousness. That may be a benefit, but it's hardly the goal, though. "If more people outside the golf world know who I am after tomorrow, that's cool, but that's not my main focus," Ogilvy said. "I just want to win a golf tournament." Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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