Oh say can you see, an Aussie victory? – Previewing the nine Australian’s at the 2012 US Open

When you head over to the US Open website, your greeted with a list of the recent champions. It’s nice to see that Geoff Ogilvy’s name hasn’t moved off the bottom list, but it has been six years since Ogilvy’s famous victory and quite frankly we did expect another Australian major winner by now.

Nine Australians make their way to The Olympia Club in San Francisco for the 2012 US Open for what is being termed one of the toughest tests of major golf in history. Even the tagline of the tournament is “Golf’s Toughest Test”. I’m not so sure why the tournament needs to be “golf’s toughest test” but nevertheless, can an Aussie prevail?

Without any Australian victories on the European or US PGA Tour’s this year, one would suggest not. The nine guys in the field aren’t exactly ripping things up at the moment, but if Australian’s are going to do well, it’s on tough, par-making tests over easy, birdie-fest golf courses.

Here is our look at the nine Australians in the US Open field this week:

Adam Scott has chosen to limit his tournaments this year. Opting for more practice and a focus on the majors, it worked pretty well at the US Masters. Let’s hope recent form is just an aberration on the road to a major goal this week.

Jason Day didn’t appear to handle the high expectations placed on him at the Presidents Cup and has struggled ever since. But he appears more comfortable since returning from an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw at the US Masters. Two top-10s along side two missed cut’s makes it hard to know what Day will do this week, but at $51, it looks pretty juicy for a kid who finished second last year and will contend for many more major championships.

Badds been inconsistent to say the least but showed he might be up for a good US Open with a good showing at the Memorial a few weeks ago. Remember he lead going into the final day in 2007 but gave up the lead within 10 minutes on the Sunday.

It’s hard to believe a former US Open champion would be at such long odds but Geoff Ogilvy’s game is taking a while to come back to him. He’s been consistently making cuts but hasn’t been in contention to win for a very long time. At least since he sported the moustache. If Geoff loses the Inspector Clouseau look and begins to drive straight again, look out.

John Senden was Australia’s most consistent golfer and could be relied upon for a Top-20 nearly every week. His last few months have been anything but, with his putting going completely out the window. If he keeps it straight he may be around on the weekend, but he’ll be first to play each hole with long-hitting Quiros and Woodland alongside him.

Rod Pampling was one of three Aussies who earned a spot in the field at qualification last week but arrives at The Olympic Golf Club with only one cut made in his last six major appearances.

8:43 am / 1:58 pm – Rod Pampling, Tim Clark, Toru Taniguchi.

Brendan Jones has always struggled to bring his great form on the Japanese Tour over to major championships, making the cut twice out of five major appearances.

The Anthony Summers US Open qualification story is almost enough but it would be an even greater achievement to be good enough to play this weekend. He’s writing a blog for the PGA this week and has joined Twitter. Let’s hope he’s not over-awed by the occasion and can blog well into the weekend.

This is Alistair Presnell’s first major championship, but of the long-odds Aussies, he is your best bet. For those that know Presnell’s game, it’s hard to believe he hasn’t had more success. He’s got plenty of experience in pressure situations and may surprise this week. He deserves a break more than most.