There is no clear pre-tournament favourite but the Australians, as a nation, are lining up to attack the New Zealand Open at The Hills starting today.
The tournament has traditionally been dominated by the men from across the Tasman but only one, Nathan Green, has got his hands on the trophy in the past five years.
That situation could change this week as a who's who of Australian golf has gathered for the $830,000 Open.
There is again an influx of talented, mainly younger Americans, and there are a handful of New Zealanders bidding to become the first home-grown winner since Dunedin's Mahal Pearce seven years ago.
But there seems a good chance the winning speech will be sprinkled with "mate" on Sunday evening.
Two of the most popular Australians will again be Craig Parry and Peter O'Malley, both 44, and former Open champions.
"Popeye" Parry, with former Australian rugby league star Tim Brasher on his bag, has 23 career wins, including two on the PGA Tour and six on the European Tour, and three top-10 finishes at Major tournaments.
O'Malley has seven wins as a professional, including three on the European Tour.
He won the New Zealand Open and PGA 10 years apart.
Throw a 5-iron in any other direction and you will find an Australian capable of winning the tournament.
Mitchell Brown is fresh from his play-off success in the New Zealand PGA, Alistair Presnell won the Moonah Classic last year and finished just three places out of an automatic PGA Tour place, and Kurt Barnes is a big-driving New South Welshman who recently won the Japanese Tour School.
Gavin Coles is a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, Jason Norris led the New Zealand Open after the second round last year, and Peter Senior, Terry Price, Ewan Porter and Nick Flanagan are all well-performed golfers.
Perhaps the most interesting Australian will be Peter Lonard, a regular on the PGA Tour since 2002 with career earnings of nearly $US10 million.
Lonard (42) lost his card after struggling with injury last year but refused to use a medical exemption to stay on the main tour.
"I think medical exemptions are more for guys that are dying," he said yesterday.
"Just because you've got a bit of a sore back is not a real reason.
"I think it's wear and tear from doing the same thing for 20 or 30 years."
Lonard got mixed messages on his injury, which set back his rehabilitation.
He has hardly played in 18 months and is not expecting miracles at the Open.
"I'd like to think I can get myself into a position where I have the opportunity to win or at least play four consistent rounds and feel healthy at the end.
"If I walk away finishing in the top half of the field and healthy, then I'll be pretty happy."
The New Zealand charge will be led by David Smail, Josh Geary, Steve Alker, Grant Waite and Brad Iles, while there will be plenty of support for the in-form Pearce.
Smail is now based in Japan and has had little time to practise this week as he has been fulfilling obligations for his sponsor.
Even before the tournament, he was struggling to get into a groove.
"I have been struggling and I don't know why.
"My driver is going all right, but not the rest of my game," Smail said.
He said he had a healthy respect for the challenge posed by The Hills.
"I didn't play well here last year and I had been playing well coming into the tournament.
"There are some tricky holes out there."
Who else could contend?
Oh, yes, the Americans.
Lots of them.
There is the guy who went toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods at the 2000 PGA Championship (Bob May), the guy who has 25 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour (Skip Kendall) and the guy who earned $US1 million in 2000 (Scott Dunlap).
The younger brigade includes former college stars Jamie Lovemark, Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley, while Martin Piller (second last year) and Jim Herman (third) are back for another crack.
Lovemark played in the Bob Hope Classic earlier this week before racing to New Zealand and heading straight to The Hills to play in the pro-am.
This is golf, of course, and picking a winner is never easy unless the field includes Woods, Tiger.
The tournament is also being held in a different month to last time, and the course may play differently as a result.
And this is the first event on the 2010 Nationwide Tour, so there is no present form to assess.
The good news is the weather has been excellent in Arrowtown all week and the Open is expected to be bathed in sunshine all week.
That just leaves the wind to think about.
New Zealand Open
The facts
Venue: The Hills, ArrowtownPar/length: 72, 6600m
Rounds: Four
Purse: $NZ830,000
Sanction: PGA Tour of Australasia, Nationwide Tour
Field: 156 players
By country: Australia 69, USA 62, New Zealand 16, Canada 4, Argentina 2, England 1, Korea 1, Colombia 12009 champion: Alex Prugh (USA) 65-71-69-64 (-19)
Former champions in field: Terry Price (Australia, 2004), Mahal Pearce (New Zealand, 2003), Craig Parry (Australia, 2002), David Smail (New Zealand, 2001), Michael Long (New Zealand, 1996), Peter O'Malley (Australia, 1995), Grant Waite (New Zealand, 1992)
Scoring records
Four rounds: 262, Rodger Davis (Australia)
Single round: 62, Rodger Davis (Australia) and Paul Gow (Australia)
Most titles: Nine, Peter Thomson (Australia)
