When Geoff Ogilvy won the "I'm such an idiot" US Open at Winged Foot in 2006, I wasn't sure that he would go on to do much of anything.  He could have been in line to become Scott Simpson instead of Greg Norman.  Considering Ogilvy's performance in the past twelve monts, though, I'm now assured that Ogilvy is one of the greats of the game.

Ogilvy is a young man - 31 years old.  He is just beginning to hit the age range that golf lore dictates as the prime of golfers.  As maligned as the World Golf Championships are, Ogilvy's Monday win at Doral last year was a impressive feat.  During the Australian Triple Crown, Ogilvy managed his first victory in the series with a win at the Australian PGA Championship.

The win at Doral led Ogilvy to Kapalua for the winners-only Mercedes Benz Championship.  The great play during 2008 gave him the confidence he needed to navigate a tricky Kapalua course.  He fulfilled the short game requisite to win the tournament and cruised to a six shot win. 

Ogilvy has now topped the medal stand three times in the last twelve months.  His wins do not only seem to come at majors, like Padraig Harrington.  Nor does he ever seem to really dominate like Tiger Woods.  Still, Ogilvy has learned to win and finds a way to do it on the bigger stages in the game.

As Martin Blake points out in the Australian paper The Age, "Ogilvy has only missed the cut in three of 20 major appearances, and he already has more top-10s than his [Australian] mates." 

The guy is also a fun golf mind to pick at in the press room.  He loves golf architecture.  He will talk course setup in a meaningful way that most PGA Tour pros do not care to do or, in some cases, even understand how to do.  He has battled the mental logjam that prevented him from winning earlier in his career, but found a way to breakthrough while still maintaining a fiery, competitive persona.  In a word, Ogilvy is rare.