Nick O Hern -110 over John Senden ** Strong
Nick O Hern 16 / 1
Nick O Hern 16 / 1
O'Hern has been practising in Perth this week after returning from China where he partnered Nathan Green in the World Cup.
"I played pretty well in China last week but unfortunately we didn't score very well," O'Hern said.
"It was probably the best I've hit the ball since early in the year. I'm working on some good stuff and looking forward to defending at Coolum."
Remarkably, O'Hern's 14-year professional career has yielded only two wins - both at Coolum.
Between his debut victory in 1999 and last year's win, O'Hern had been runner-up 12 times, third on 11 occasions and had 56 top-10 finishes in Australasia, Europe and the US.
"If I hadn't won last year I would have taken a long time to get over it," he said.
"Coolum is right up there as one of my favourite courses. There are lots of holes where you can hit it right to left and I can do that with my driver very comfortably.
"It's a course where I can actually attack some holes. Where guys are hitting irons and three-woods I can get the driver out and have a crack.
"It shortens up those holes for me."
O'Hern looked set to win outright last year, but missed a 1m putt on the 72nd hole to finish at 22-under with two-time PGA champion Peter Lonard, who rammed in a 3m putt for par. It was the lowest winning score in the 101-year history of the event.
"I took a lot out of eventually winning last year, especially after screwing up the last hole. It gave me great confidence, especially the way I won the play-off," O'Hern said.