Geoff Ogilvy to ‘tweak’ Royal Queensland before 2032 Olympics

Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, was among the star performers in Sunday’s final round of the Australian PGA at RQ, shooting a six-under 65 to finish the tournament with a four-round, five-under total of 279.

“It was just a nice round,” Ogilvy said.

“The pins I feel like got easier almost all week rather than harder.”

Very much a part-time player nowadays, 45-year-old Ogilvy has turned his skills to course design and “preserving great golf courses” as a director of OCM Golf.

Among OCM’s tasks are refining RQ for the Brisbane Olympics in 10 years’ time.

“It’s a work in progress,” Ogilvy said.

“There’s probably a few things I would tweak here and there but I think fundamentally it (RQ) is really good.

“Strategically it’s interesting. It’s not drivers everywhere. There are options off the tee.”

Ogilvy rated the 429m, par-four 18th hole as “fantastic”.

“It’s 150 yards (137.6 metres) wide but there’s a bunker exactly where you want to be … and it’s a really hard green to hit with a nine iron.

“We’ve got a long time (before the Olympics). You don’t want to rush these things. It’s already really good, so time will tell.”

Despite playing less nowadays, Ogilvy’s competitive juices are still flowing, and he’s hopeful Sunday’s round at RQ will give him plenty of momentum going into this week’s Australian Open at the Victoria and Kingston Heath clubs.

“I know I can compete and win if I put it all together, but I’ve been one of the guys who’s played 25 tournaments a year on a big tour and come back here and I know how that feels – I don’t feel like that right now,” he said.

“If I play well surely I can do OK, but again, playing against people who have been playing all year, I’m going to have to play really well.

“I don’t have too high of expectations. I’d love to play well and be the mix. It’d be fun to be in contention at Victoria. I’ve been a member there forever.”