Leishman keeps eye on prize
WARRNAMBOOL’S Marc Leishman believes the calibre of this week’s World Golf Championships (WGC) event in Mexico has not been diluted by an absence of big guns.
Top 10 golfers Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama and Rory McIlroy — as well as world No.13 Henrik Stenson — will not line up at the year’s first WGC.
Day will be with mother Dening as she has scans related to her battle with lung cancer, while injuries will prevent Matsuyama (thumb) and Koepka (wrist) playing.
Four-time major winner McIlroy cited scheduling issues for his no-show.
But Leishman is aware he faces 45 of the world’s top 50 golfers in the 65-man field.
“Those guys have got their reasons for not coming, but it doesn’t change the way I approach the event; it’s a WGC and there are a lot of quality players you have to beat,” he said.
The 34-year-old enjoyed two victories on the US PGA Tour last year — at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
But he is eager to join Craig Parry, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and Day as the only Australians to win a WGC title since the series was created in 1999.
“I’d absolutely love to have World Golf Championship win on the resume; they’re the most respected events outside the majors and the Players (Championship) and would be a logical step up for me,” Leishman said.
Joining him in Mexico are Brett Rumford and Adam Bland, who qualified as the top two players from the 2017 Australasian Tour’s money list, and Wade Ormsby.