What a wonderful week and a bit in Australia - first in the magnificent city of Melbourne and then on to the delights of sunny Queensland.
The President’s Cup didn’t quite turn out the way Greg Norman’s Internationals would have liked against America, but what a great venue and event in Melbourne.
It was also a perfect opportunity for Charl Schwartzel to further establish himself on the world stage and he took it – topping the points table for the hosts.
After saying goodbye to the green jacket, I set off to be re-united with the silver claret jug as Darren Clarke brought his spoils from The Open down under.
What a great public relations job Darren has done since he won golf’s ultimate prize and hundreds of Australians will now give pride of place to pictures of themselves with the trophy.
Another to get hold of it again was The Great White Shark, captain in Melbourne and competitor in Coolum, who won it at the same Royal St. George’s where The Ulsterman ended his long wait for a Major last summer.
There can be few if any countries in the world which are more sports orientated and I very much look forward to my next visit to Australia.
Now it’s time to return to another of my favourite places, South Africa, where ISM will have no less than one third of the field at the Nedbank Challenge, still affectionately referred to as the Million Dollar, even though the first prize is now double that.
It should be another great week as Darren, short-listed again for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, joins Charl, Lee Westwood and Simon Dyson competing in Sun City.
