Ogilvy’s potential major sacrifice

For the first time since his famous win at Winged Foot in 2006 Geoff Ogilvy is not exempt for the U.S. Open – and he’s okay with it. He may not even try to qualify. That’s not to say the eight-time PGA TOUR winner doesn’t want to be in the field at Erin Hills – his passion for top level play is still well and truly burning – rather he is intelligently thinking about his status in the FedExCup and his best plan of attack to make the Playoffs. Playing this season on TOUR via his career money earnings exemption the 39-year-old Ogilvy sits a respectable 109th in the FedExCup race to this point. He has split his 16 starts with eight made and eight missed cuts. While doing okay, he has yet to sew up a Playoff berth for this season and by extension a TOUR card for next season. He contended heavily in the fall at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T4) and has three further top 25 finishes since to give him a fighting chance to make the Playoffs for the first time since 2014. In the first eight editions of the Playoffs Ogilvy was a staple, making the TOUR Championship five times. He wants to be back there. Among the many perks of making the field at East Lake is a very set schedule, that includes the major championships. And so, Ogilvy sits at an interesting crossroads. Enter 36-hole qualifying for the U.S. Open on June 6 which could impact on his preparations for the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis that week, or perhaps forego this one major to have a better chance at a renaissance down the track. He could still skip qualifying all together and make the field should he find his way into the world top 60 by June 12, but this would likely only be possible with a win, and another high finish, in his next few tournaments. He sits 214th in the world as he lines up at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational this week. “Being at qualifying – it’s going to be strange. There’s an outside chance I wouldn’t go… there’s some reasonably compelling reasons to not try,â€� Ogilvy admits. “Not because I don’t want to play in the U.S. Open or that I don’t want to win the U.S. Open.  It’s just my priority at the moment has got to be moving up in the FedExCup, moving up in the World Rankings… it’s prioritizing. “It’s a major and it’s great, and if you finish high up there it’s a great week and it’s a pile of points and money and you get the feeling again but on the other hand it’s very difficult to leave the U.S. Open with confidence unless you win or finish top four or five. “If you do qualify, it might mess up the Memphis week, then you go to the U.S. Open and maybe miss the cut and then you go to Hartford (Travelers Championship) all tired and kind of over it with four big weeks coming up after that. So, we’ll have to wait and see.â€� Despite this possibility, Ogilvy makes it clear he feels he’s far from a spent force. Still shy of his 40th birthday he has taken great motivation from performances of his contemporaries in recent times. And while he is set to be an assistant captain at this year’s Presidents Cup for the International Team he hasn’t given up hope of playing on a fourth team this year, or even further down the line. I play for that Sunday afternoon where I’ve got a chance because that’s when I’m happiest.  He jokes about feeling old when watching the PGA TOUR Champions events and realizing he’s played with every single person in the field. But by the same token he has the belief his age will not be a hindrance, in fact it could be the key for him to claim a second major championship or perhaps a fourth World Golf Championship. “If you look at the top 10 in the world, really it’s kind of made up of similar ages that it has been before, there’s still the Stenson’s and the Rose’s, the Garcia’s and the Adam Scott’s,â€� Ogilvy says. “My age group is still making up a chunk of the top 10 in the world. So, we’re still in that window of time that’s prime. Look at Phil Mickelson. He is nearing 50 and he’s still very relevant.  “There was all the talk about youth taking over golf and it’s harder and harder for the old guys, but then you go to the Masters, and with 18 holes to play, it was all 30 somethings. “I still think it’s such an amazing sport. Physical prowess is never going to trump experience at golf. It might on the odd given week here and there, but over the long‑term, experience and golf wisdom, which only develops over a long time of playing, is the key.â€� With his last win on TOUR coming in the 2014 Barracuda Championship can this week at Colonial be the sleeper week he’s looking for? He does have three previous top-20 finishes at the course. “I just want to get back in the mix,â€� he says. “I just get envious of like Sunday afternoons – that’s what I play for. I don’t really play for money anymore, and I don’t play for the glory or the fame or the things on the mantle. “I play for that Sunday afternoon where I’ve got a chance because that’s when I’m happiest.  “I’m just kind of waiting for the right week to come along, and I can string a bit of form together. I feel kind of poised for a reasonable summer.â€�

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