Marc Leishman’s extraordinary performance at The 144th Open Championship will rightly garner the bulk of local headlines but the real revelation out of the past week at St Andrews was the overall strength of Australian professional golf.

That 15 Australians qualified to play the event was telling but to have 11 of those go on to make the cut is an extraordinary achievement. By the time play got underway Sunday there were four Australians in the top 15, all genuine contenders within four shots of the lead.

Here’s how the week played out for those who made the cut.

Marc Leishman (T2)

The Victorian can hold his head high despite some disappointing play in the three man play-off. Rounds of 64-66 over the final 36 holes is inspired golf and could easily have seen him hoist the Claret Jug but by the time extra holes came around it seemed he had, almost inevitably, run out of momentum. 

A poor lie in a divot after a good tee shot on the first extra hole was unquestionably a spot of bad luck but the missed short putt for par was what really did the damage. This week’s performance was the one many expected from Leishman at the recent US Open but he missed the cut at Chambers Bay despite having a good lead in. 

Having nearly lost wife, Audrey, to illness earlier this year Leishman has spoken more than once about his change in perspective when it comes to golf. He will have mixed emotions from being so close but ultimately, there are only positives for him to take from the week. 

This is Leishman’s third top-5 in a Major since 2013 and it was his T5 at last year’s Open which springboarded him to a T3 finish at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. He will be one to watch at the US PGA a little over a month from now and it’s hard to imagine he won’t be a regular contender in the big events more often from here on in.

Jason Day (T4)

Once again the Queenslander has proven he is a big game player. The higher the stakes and greater the pressure the better Jason Day seems to play. The 27-year-old came to this week’s Open with a relatively poor record in the game’s oldest Major but proved at the Old Course he is capable of adapting his game to suit any conditions.

His T4 marks his seventh top-5 in 15 majors and easily eclipses his previous best Open finish of T30 in 2011.
Over the course of the week Day made just three bogies, a feat matched by only one other player who teed up all four days.

No less a judge than Tiger Woods has publicly stated he believes Day has the game, and the drive, to win Majors and gave the Australian more encouragement when they were paired together this week. Day finished T10 when the US PGA was last played at this year’s venue, Whistling Straits, in 2010.

Given this week’s performance it would be a surprise if he wasn’t a factor there again in five weeks’ time.

Adam Scott (T10)

It was a case of-oh-so-close again for the former World Number One who appeared to have one hand on the Claret Jug late in the final round only to see it tugged from his grasp. At 6-under through 10 holes of the final round it was a stunning display from Scott who stood on the par-5 14th tee with a share of the lead and looking the man most likely.

Unreachable in two Scott laid up sensibly down the 5th fairway with his second but his long approach missed in the worst possible spot: over the green in one of St Andrews’ devilish bunkers. Unable to get up and down the bogey six took the wind out of his sails and it was only minutes later Scott missed a putt of less than a foot to make a second bogey at the 15th.

While the missed tiddler was inexplicable it put Scott in an almost impossible situation and after falling further behind with a bogey at 17 a double bogey at the 18th, the result of a desperate last ditch attempt to drive the green and make an eagle, was his final humiliation. Scott’s play for the week was, once again, superlative tee to green and his putting statistics were good enough to win.

With Steve Williams back on the bag he plays with great confidence and his performances at both the US Open at Chambers Bay and again this week suggest he is capable of winning at the highest level again. Like Day and Leishman Scott leaves St Andrews with mixed emotions but many more positives than negatives.

Marcus Fraser (T20)

After a successful US Open at Chambers Bay it was no surprise to see Fraser play well at St Andrews.
The veteran European Tour member is the epitome of Professional and despite an opening 74 which might have seen some panic Fraser merely put his head down and played three rounds of very disciplined golf.
From 2-over after 18 Fraser clawed his way back to 7-under for the week but, in typical fashion, did it while barely anyone noticed.

While not a prolific winner Fraser has built a game that is not only reliable but, when on song, capable of contending in any event. Already having a good season in Europe Fraser will take plenty of confidence from his performance at St Andrews and it would be no surprise to see him claim a third European Tour victory before the year is out.

Matt Jones (T30)

The one time PGA TOUR winner teed up in The Open for only the second time and not only proved he has matured as a player but had one of the highlights of the week, an eagle two on his 72nd hole. It was a steady performance from Jones who finished T54 in his only other appearance at Hoylake last year but was more consistent this past week in finishing in the top half of the field.

The hole out for eagle at the final hole of the tournament pulled him back to even par for Monday’s round and meant he was over par just one of the four days at the Old Course. Since winning last year’s Shell Houston Open Jones has played with more confidence and that was on display again this week.

Having played in America for the bulk of his career it is a mark of the roundedness of Jones’ game that he has the ability to adapt to the unfamiliar conditions faced this week at St Andrews.

Steven Bowditch (T30)

A player capable of shooting low numbers when his game is on Bowditch found himself in his element for periods over the four days at St Andrews. In each of the first three rounds he made five birdies each day but was ultimately undone by the bogies which inevitably come when you play aggressively at a course like St Andrews.

Bowditch, now a two time winner on the PGA TOUR, made only his fifth career start in a Major this week and made just his second cut, the first coming in last year’s Masters. Not generally known for his consistency Bowditch strung together some good finishes after his recent win at the Byron Nelson tournament and this week’s performance is another indicator that his game continues to develop.

Scott Arnold (T40)

The Challenge Tour regular was one of the feel good stories of the week at St Andrews after surviving qualifying for the tournament just a fortnight ago.The 29-year-old revealed prior to Thursday’s first round he’d outlaid the £1200 required for European Tour membership before hitting off in case he won enough money to earn a place on the Tour.

While he didn’t quite achieve that goal (he earned €40,149 for his effort) Arnold proved he has what it takes to compete at the next level. While he has struggled to find consistent form on Europe’s secondary Tour his play at St andrews, particularly his final round 66 to move up the leader board, proves he has all the tools.

After a disappointing year in 2014 Arnold has shown some flashes of brilliance this year on the Challenge Tour and with the confidence gained this week could well be on his way to a European Tour card in 2016.

John Senden (T40)

Senden’s generally reliable hitting was on show at St Andrews and while he didn’t play poorly at any stage he never really got on a run for the week either. Having survived Friday’s awful conditions to make the cut on the number Senden produced his best golf for the week on Saturday with a 4-under 68.

With seven birdies in the round Senden showed what he was capable of at the Old Course and while he started the weekend too far back to make an impact 5-under for those 36 holes was good play. Senden drove the ball well to be in the top 15 for fairways hit but was surprisingly only T40 for Greens in Regulation though the undulating nature of the putting surfaces at the Old Course can impact that number.

Senden continues to play reliable golf and with the quality of his long game those weeks when he chips and putts should see him at the pointy end of leader boards.

Geoff Ogilvy (T40)

The 2006 US Open winner came into the week off an encouraging performance at a difficult Chambers Bay, notably a final round 67. A self confessed lover of the Old Course Ogilvy was visibly excited to be part of the tournament and looked sharp when he got to 6-under through 12 holes of his first round.

But on one of the toughest stretches on the course Ogilvy leaked shots between the 13th and 17th and by the time he putted out on 18 had given back five of the six strokes he had gained. It was a disappointing end to what had promised to be a great round and was eventually too much to overcome.

A second round 68 gave some hope he could recover but despite making four birdies in each of his last two rounds he had given up too many strokes to be a genuine contender.

Greg Chalmers (T58)

At 6-under through three rounds Greg Chalmers was perhaps the surprise packet of the Australian group.
The reigning 2014 Australian PGA Champion has been in decent though not spectacular form on the PGA TOUR this year but found the Old Course to his liking with 10 birdies in the first 36 holes.

Known as one of the better putters in the game it was Chalmers’ iron play which reaped the most rewards for the week, the West Australian finding 55 of the 72 putting surfaces.It was ultimately a disappointing final round for Chalmers who made an eagle at the par-5 5th hole to get to 8-under par before losing his way and dropping five shots from the eighth to the clubhouse. This was Chalmers’ third Open appearance but he is yet to crack the top 50.

Brett Rumford (T74)

Under the circumstances Brett Rumford’s performance, particularly over the first three days, might have been the most impressive. Playing just his second tournament since surgery in March to remove a section of his intestine Rumford admitted he probably wouldn’t have teed up this week if it we’re a regular event.

However, an Open at St Andrews isn’t to be missed and despite not being at his peak Rumford managed to eke out three straight rounds of 71 to be a respectable 3-under through three rounds. While he found the going tougher in the final round with a 3-over 75 it was a worthy performance in difficult circumstances and after a difficult 2014 hopefully signals the beginnings of a recovery in form.

Interestingly, while he only appeared briefly on the coverage, it seems the West Australian is also using a short putter for the first time in several years. Rumford has been an exponent of the broomstick most of his Professional career but with the anchoring ban to take effect in January next year has made the switch to a more traditional flatstick early.

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