Leonard returns to winning ways

For the best part of the last two seasons, it seemed as if Justin Leonard had disappeared off the face of the golfing planet

For the best part of the last two seasons, it seemed as if Justin Leonard had disappeared off the face of the golfing planet. But, as the adage goes, "form is temporary, class is permanent", and his win in the Bob Hope Classic - his ninth win on the US Tour but first since the Honda Classic all of one year and 10 months ago - would indicate that this one-time British Open champion can again aspire to contending in the major championships.

The immediate effect of Leonard's latest tournament success is that he has jumped 24 places to number 16 in the official world rankings, but, longer term, it could act as an inspiration towards the US Masters at Augusta National in April. The past two winners of the Bob Hope - Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson - have gone on to win a green jacket.

However, Leonard was not tempting fate in his reaction after claiming victory by three shots from Tim Clark and Joe Ogilvie when asked if his jacket size should be forwarded to the powers-that-be at Augusta. "I would say it's just coincidence, but look at the two guys who won this tournament the previous two years," Leonard said.

"Two pretty good players that probably set up pretty well for Augusta. I love playing Augusta. I'm looking very much forward to it. I certainly hope to keep the streak alive. I may write that in my yardage book to give me a little boost of confidence."

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Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion, ended a winless string that stretched back almost two years.

"I enjoy taking pressure off myself, because I'm usually a little more relaxed and have a little more fun," he said. "It will inspire me a bit when I am practising and when I am playing, to work a little harder knowing that one is not enough. I just know I've been sitting on eight tournaments for almost two years and it is nice to get a ninth."

As he has done in the majority of his tournament wins, Leonard made a final round charge and used his putter to good effect. In averaging a mere 25.6 putts over the five rounds, he topped the putting statistics, and the win was the fifth time he had come from behind to claim a victory.

While his victory earned Leonard $846,000 and moved him to fifth in the US Tour money list, it has left him anticipating a better springtime than he has had in recent years with his eyes very much looking ahead to next month's Nissan Open and Accenture Matchplay.

"I've certainly never gone into those weeks with this kind of start to the year, so we'll see. I love both golf courses, I just haven't performed well on both of them," said Leonard.

While the US Tour has hogged most of the top players for the early part of the season - and, indeed, world number one Vijay Singh resumes competitive play in this week's Phoenix Open after taking a break last week - the co-sanctioned Heineken Classic, which counts towards the European Tour and the Australasian Tour, at Royal Melbourne this week could see Ernie Els claim another piece of history.

The South African is going for a fourth consecutive win in the Heineken, seeking to become only the fifth player in tournament history to perform such a feat: Tiger Woods won the Buick Invitational on the US Tour from 2000 to 2003; Tom Morris Jnr won the British Open from 1868 to 1872 (there was no championship in 1871); Walter Hagen won the US PGA from 1924 to 1927, and Gene Sarazen took the Miami Open from 1926 to 1930 (it wasn't held in 1927).

As things stand, Els is one of five players in history to have won a tournament for three successive years. Nick Faldo won the Irish Open from 1991 to 1993; Colin Montgomerie took the Volvo PGA from 1998 to 2000; Woods claimed the NEC from 1999 to 2001, and Ian Woosnam won the Monte Carlo Open from 1990 to 1992.

Stuart Appleby, who won the Sony Open in Hawaii last month, returns to tournament play after taking time out for the birth of his first child. "I'm learning how to be sleep-deprived," Appleby joked after a practice round at Royal Melbourne.

"Every player wants to get off to a good start," Appleby said. "I have done that now for the last two years, and I would like to do that for the rest of my life, to get the ball moving and never feeling like you were playing catch-up. Last year Ernie blitzed it and stole all the headlines. If my game shows up like it was in Hawaii, I'll be in contention."

Appleby has not won on home turf since the Australian Open in 2001.

There are three Irish players in the field at Royal Melbourne, where Peter Lawrie - fresh from his top-five finish in Singapore - will be joined by Graeme McDowell and Gary Murphy. McDowell's seasonal debut in Singapore saw him slip back in the latest world rankings, from the 55th position he occupied last week to 59th. McDowell is attempting to break into the world's top-50 by the week before the US Masters in order to earn an invitation to the season's first major.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times