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From Foxsports.com

LONG before reaching the final hole on Sunday, the Australian Open''s pre-eminent player had golfed his way into oblivion.

At the 18th, where two grandstands behind the green allowed for hundreds of spectators, only seven fans sat under umbrellas and watched. It was mid-afternoon. And Geoff Ogilvy would exit this tournament in a manner far less celebrated than he''d entered it.

When Ogilvy tapped in for birdie, the final stroke in an effort that left him tied for 18th place, the player ranked 13th by the PGA managed to hear each and every one of the fans screaming for his golf ball.

That''s because there were two of them. He tossed his ball to a middle-aged woman and glanced at the other spectator, saying, with a half-hearted smile, "She asked first".

Then Ogilvy walked to the scorer''s tent and signed his name to another round that failed to meet his expectations. He finished Sunday with a two-under 70, meaning he finished the four days five under - six strokes behind winner Craig Parry and just one in a crowd of top Aussies whose performances this week didn''t match their profiles.

Aaron Baddeley finished three strokes back, but never reached close enough to become a factor.

Robert Allenby''s tailspin turned the promise of a last-group Sunday pairing into an 11th-place finish.

Neither Michael Campbell nor John Senden even survived the cut.

But the failure was most acute for Ogilvy, still winless in Major Tournaments in his own country.

He admitted before this year''s tournament that the streak of failures now weighs on his mind. Next year, he''ll have to answer the same questions. He''ll likely respond with the same unknowing shoulder shrugs.

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