Geoff Ogilvy with coach Dale Lynch

Geoff Ogilvy is the only player in the field at the SBS Championship this week who has previously won this event at Kapalua. One would imagine Ogilvy would be looking at familiarity with the course and fond memories as advantages in the defense of his title.

That may well be true but there are still quite a few changes for the Aussie to deal with this week. For starters, he has a whole new set of clubs in the bag. Ogilvy has made the switch to Titleist from Cobra, and as Gene Yasuda from GolfWeek reports, is using Titleist MB irons and a 909 D3 driver along with Vokey Spin Milled wedges and a Scotty Cameron prototype putter in Hawaii.

Don’t expect the lanky defending champion to use new sticks as an excuse, however. When asked before the tournament about how the equipment changes might affect him, including those brought on by the new groove rules, he confidently responded that he wouldn’t have much trouble adjusting as his new irons have the same grooves he was using last year.

“I have been using them in practice quite a lot.  I’m pretty comfortable” said Ogilvy.

The golf clubs aren’t the only change for Ogilvy this season. According to reports, Puma Golf has not renewed Ogilvy’s apparel contract, choosing instead to focus all their marketing efforts on young gun Ricky Fowler. Ogilvy is now wearing a Titleist hat and FootJoy gloves and shoes (keeping it in the Acushnet family). His clothing contract is still undecided, however there is speculation that he may sign a deal with Southern California golf clothing designer Travis Mathew.

Titleist, Cobra, Puma or no Puma, Ogilvy has showed with his solid start at the SBS Championship (rounds of 69 and 66 to go into the weekend T2) that at the end of the day, it is all about the player and not just the tools he is using.

Lucas Glover would probably do quite well in a category that measures recovery from a horrible start after the 1st round of the SBS Championship. The reigning US Open Champion put aside a double bogey on his opening hole to go 9 under par in a 9 hole stretch in the middle of his round to finish at 7 under 66 and lead the tournament at the end of the day. His blistering round included 2 eagles.

He showed how important it is to be patient:

“I knew there were a lot of birdies,” he said. “I saw some scores early and I knew guys were making birdies, and if I played well, I could get something going. So just don’t rush anything. Be patient.”

Australia was well represented in the elite field by Nathan Green(67) and defending champion Geoff Ogilvy (69).

Green (T2) is already looking forward to seeing improvements in his game from 2009. At this level, the little things that help a player maintain momentum in a round can end up being the difference between being in contention and struggling to make the cut. On Thursday, Green managed to limit the damage from his worst shot of the day when he hit a spectator with an errant shot out of the rough on the par 3 8th. He had about 30 yards left to the hole from where he ended up, and managed to get it up and down to escape with a bogey.

“That’s the stuff I wasn’t doing much at all last year,” said Green. “If I had a slightly good break like that, I wouldn’t make the most of it. I wouldn’t manage to get it up and down.”

Defending champ Ogilvy ended the day tied for 11th place at 69, 3 shots behind the leader.

When asked about what this stat means to him, Ogilvy said:

“Well, I learned that then actually when you said that. Yes and no. I mean it probably doesn’t happen very often in a year. Probably most places you go to, there will be knowledgeable people who have won on that golf course before. Unless you go to Bay Hill and Tiger is probably the only one who won there, or Akron or something. I guess, it’s interesting.”

Ogilvy is aware of this event’s previous history of repeat winners, and certainly feels confident enough to be in the hunt in the defense of his title this week. When asked who he thinks the favorite is this week, he didn’t shy away from backing himself:

“Obviously, everyone here is a good player because they won a golf tournament last year. Stuart (Appleby) won three times in a row, so it’s obviously feasible. It’s a place my first couple of times I never played well. But last year was the best I ever played last year. I came back here feeling pretty good, so I don’t see any reason why I can’t win again“.