Who will win the Australian Open?

The 2010 Australian Open is being held at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney this week and Aussie Golfer will once again be on course to cover the action. It has been overshadowed by Tiger Woods' presence at the Australian Masters the past two years but I tend to think the field this year is just as good as the Masters. If not better.

The Australian Masters, although claiming to boast one of the best fields ever assembled in Australia, was missing many of Australia's best golfers. The three internationals in Woods, Garcia and Villegas were of course good value but the timing of the event meant many Aussies were still playing in Europe, Asia or fighting for their US PGA Tour cards.

Missing from the Australian Masters were Scott Strange, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Nick O'Hern, John Senden, Rod Pampling, Richard Green and Marc Leishman. That is a seriously impressive set of Australian golfers who will be playing at The Lakes this weekend. Add to the mix Michael Sim, Greg Norman, Wenchong Liang, Geoff Ogilvy and Fred Couples and we have a great tournament ahead.

Who can't win?

Greg Norman won here in 1980 but the course is a shade of its former self. Holes have been rebuilt and redirected, and there is plenty of bunkers and wasteland that would leave Dustin Johnson confused. Unfortunately, Norman will struggle but it would be great to see him in contention again. 

Rod Pampling and Aaron Baddeley won't be there on Sunday. Rod Pampling has lost his US PGA Tour card after an awful year and Aaron Baddeley has been playing in golfing hell. Peter Senior, Peter Fowler and Rodger Davis are all playing in the event but don't expect any flashbacks to leaderboard's of the 80's with these names on it.

As much as we'd like it, it is hard to see John Daly winning. Especially given his comments admitting to playing better when he was drunk.

So who is going to win?

2009 Australian Open winner, Adam Scott 

Keep an eye out for John Senden, Andrew Dodt, Alistair Presnell and Rick Kulacz who have all had a good year. Stuart Appleby has a good chance given his fantastic win at the Masters but a fourth addition to the family (making 4 kids under 5-years old) means golf has taken a back seat for a few weeks. 

Don't rule out Fred Couples. Four wins on the Champions Tour this year and a Top-10 at the US Masters has Freddy playing some great golf. If his back holds up after the long flight, he's a chance.

Adam Scott is the man though. A recent win at the Singapore Open means Scott's putter is working and his Open victory last year has thrown the "can't win in Australia" monkey off his back. He is outright favourite and will be in contention on Sunday afternoon to defend his title.