Ogilvy piling up wins in big tournaments

True, his U.S. Open victory came courtesy of 18th-hole gaffes by Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie, but he still had to hit the perfect pitch and make the nervy putt, and he never shot worse than 72 that week at Winged Foot.

Ogilvy also won a pair of World Golf Championships, setting a record by playing 129 holes in five days at the Accenture Match Play Championship, and winning the CA Championship at Doral over Retief Goosen, Furyk, Woods, Singh and Steve Stricker.

His latest feat was a six-shot victory against a winners-only field at Kapalua, which was impressive for how he bounced back. After his six-shot margin was reduced to one, Ogilvy played the next seven holes in 7 under, starting with an eagle on the ninth hole.

That moved him up to No. 6 in the world ranking Monday and continued a quiet streak of good play.

After missing the Tour Championship because of a FedEx Cup points system that since has been changed, he tied for third in the HSBC Champions in China, won the Australian PGA for his first victory on native soil, and tied for sixth in the Australian Open.

Playing consistently well is what separates the elite players. Ogilvy could be headed in that direction, but at the moment, he remains somewhere in the middle.

"I think I'm getting closer to that sort of point," he said. "I struggled for a while. I didn't play great in '07, but last year, I had a period there from about the start of Florida to the U.S. Open where I felt like if I had made a few more (putts), I could have won three or four. I won one. But I felt like I was there - or thereabouts - and then dropped off, which those top players don't tend to do.

"If I played like this every week, I'd be all right," he said. "I think it's coming. I could get to that sort of stage."

Even the four top players missing from Maui - Woods, Garcia, Mickelson and Padraig Harrington - might not have been able to stop Ogilvy at Kapalua.

He faced two days of tough trade winds and his only bogey came on a three-putt from 85 feet, courtesy of the wind shifting directions during the five minutes he spent in a valley. Then came a Kona wind from the opposite direction, which he had never experienced, and Ogilvy strung together a 65. And on a soggy course from rain Sunday, he overcame four bogeys on the opening eight holes for a 68.

"When Geoff plays well, it never looks like he's going to hit a bad shot," said Scott, his best friend on tour. "I think that's why he does well in the big tournaments."

Ogilvy is beating strong fields, and he is no longer beating up on himself.

That was a problem during his first four years on tour, when he was a runner-up three times. While he doesn't seek attention, Ogilvy sets high standards for each shot, each round, each tournament, and could berate himself when he didn't meet them.

Perhaps having two children (Phoebe is 2, Jasper just turned 1) helps. And perhaps winning breeds realization. He has learned to be nice to himself, and he believes a more positive attitude is helping him in the big events.

"If I played like this every week, I feel pretty good about it," Ogilvy said. "I'm realistic enough to know weeks like this don't come along very often - hopefully, more often in the future than they have in the past."