John Senden can at least walk away from the WGC Match Play Championship knowing he is definitely ready to mix it with the world’s best golfers.
Not that he had many doubts before his tilt at glory.
Senden was the last Australian to be knocked out of the lucrative tournament when South Korean Sang-Moon Bae held on for a 1-up win in the third round.
He had a few late chances to extend the match but couldn’t find a way to get the putts to drop.
It wasn’t the result that Senden wanted after his earlier annihilations of England’s Simon Dyson and fellow Queenslander Jason Day but it ensured he should move back inside the world top 40.
Once the disappointment of the loss subsides, Senden will see plenty of positives in his week.
He might be Australia’s third-highest ranked golfer, behind Adam Scott and Day, but with just one US PGA Tour victory to his name from 2006 and a laid-back personality, the 40-year-old rarely finds himself in the spotlight.
Things could be about to change in a big way after a solid 2011 season where he finished inside the top 30 on the US tour.
It guaranteed starts in all four majors this year and other huge events like the Match Play Championship and the coming WGC at Doral in Florida.
And now he really feels like he belongs.
“It’s all about trying to get where you can feel like you can compete with the best in the world,” Senden said.
“And I think that it’s taken me a while, but I’m hopefully getting there.
“I have the belief system. Now it’s about being able to get up there on this stage and accept and know that I can be a winning player, rather than just someone who is consistent and solid.”
Senden has spent his career seeing fellow Australians win multiple times in the US and even win majors.
Now he wants his turn.
“You sort of get to the end of a career thinking, well, I played well on the PGA tour, but I didn’t have that many victories,” he said.
“I want to be able to change that. I’ve seen a lot of players, like some of my mates, that have maybe taken it to a higher level.
“Like (Stuart) Appleby, (Robert) Allenby, Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy. They’re great players, and they’ve got the big ones.
“I’d love to be able to give myself a chance to do that and be a winning player.”
Bae will now meet Rory McIlroy in the quarter-finals after the Northern Irishman accounted for Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez 3 and 1.
McIlroy can become world No.1 if he hoists the trophy on Sunday.
England’s Lee Westwood, another with a chance of becoming No.1, continued his roll with a 3 and 2 win over American Nick Watney.
He will play Martin Laird, who won the all-Scottish battle with Paul Lawrie 3 and 1.
Americans Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan crushed German Martin Kaymer and fellow American Steve Stricker respectively.
Both matches ended on the 15th hole with 4 and 3 victories.
