The
upcoming summer of golf received a big boost at the PGA TOUR event in Las Vegas
this week with three Australians in the top-10 just two weeks out from the
Australian Open.

Rod
Pampling’s stirring victory at 47-years-old was the story of the week but the
play of 2006 US Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy to finish T4 and young gun Cameron
Smith at T10 bodes well for the impending events in Australia.

Reigning
Australian Open Champion Matt Jones also threw his hat in the ring at TPC
Summerlin finding some much needed form to shoot four sub-70 rounds on his way
to a T15 finish.

Five
of the nine Australians who began Thursday qualified for the weekend – Aaron
Baddeley, Steven Bowditch and Greg Chalmers all missing the cut while Stuart
Appleby withdrew after an opening round 76.

But
for Australian fans the week could hardly have been better with Pampling,
Ogilvy, Smith, Jones and John Senden (T31) all in the field at Royal Sydney in
a fortnight’s time.

With
his near-59 in the first round, Pampling was in focus the entire week but the
resurgent play of Geoff Ogilvy was equally impressive after two years of
struggle.

The
39-year-old is playing the season on a one-time only career earnings exemption and
knows he needs to find his game soon if he is to continue his PGA TOUR career.

An
eight-time winner on the world’s toughest circuit, it is the putter which has
proved his Achilles heel in recent times and while his statistics for the week
weren’t great he will take confidence in a top-5 finish with less than his best
game.

One
of the most exciting prospects to emerge from Australia in recent years is
quietly building a world class game.

After
having a genuine chance in the final round of last week’s Sanderson Farms
tournament, Cameron Smith backed up with a top-10 this week and has proved in
the past he is a momentum player.

With
24 birdies and an eagle on the scorecard in Vegas, Smith showed he has enough
game to win at this level and will be a threat at both the Australian Open and
Australian PGA Championship this summer.

The
resurgence in Australian form continues a fairytale which began in the second
half of the 2016 season when Aaron Baddeley won for the fourth time on the PGA
TOUR and Greg Chalmers managed his first career title.

The
summer of golf will see some of the biggest names in international and
Australian golf over the coming three weeks with the NSW Open this week,
followed by the Emirates Australian Open, the World Cup of Golf at Kingston
Heath in three weeks with the summer culminating at the Australian PGA
Championship, the first week of December.