(Mike Clayton is the founder and principal of Ogilvy Clayton Golf Design.)

When the best player in the country takes a five-stroke lead to the 55th tee of the national Open there is an assumption that the rest are playing for second place.

The reality is that they probably are but big leads are never easy because always at the back of the mind of the leader is the fear of a bad day.

Geoff Ogilvy won the Tournament of Champions at the start of the year - by five shots in the end - but only after his six-shot, 54-hole, lead had completely disappeared after only eight holes of the final round.

It had all been so smooth for him over the opening days but at the par-three 7th hole on Sunday he flew an eight iron over the green and into a ti-tree bush. Matt Jones had played the perfect shot just left of the pin cut in the most difficult spot, high up on the small back tier of the green.

It looked possible that Jones' two might be matched by Ogilvy's five and that would have brought the lead back to a single shot. The leader found his ball in something a little better than an unplayable lie but he managed to scrape a wedge onto the green and more remarkably it ran down within a few feet from the hole.

Jones came again with a birdie at the 9th but he missed a short chance after a terrific long second up the hill to the 12th green. Ogilvy pitched close at the short par four 13th and after watching Jones hole from 25 feet he made the four footer to keep his only real threat at arm's length.

The Lakes is a course almost custom-made for the Ogilvy game. There is more space from the tee than is normal in professional golf and there are a number of long holes that reward the big high long iron shot that he and Adam Scott play so well. I said as much in the tournament preview here on Wednesday.

Though has a much superior short game than Scott and the greens asked for both good nerve and imagination.

Greg Norman thought them too slow and he was right.

All the early week rain and the overcast skies, as well as a forecast of high winds on the first day, meant the greens were slower than we are used to in Australia.

They were also too soft but that was the fault of no one. Any time five or six inches of rain falls on a course early in the week - and that after a wet winter - the greens are going to be softer than is ideal. The scoring was an absolute reflection of the conditions but given a relatively dry run-up to next year's championship, with some typically brisk Sydney seaside winds, and the winning score would be at least 10 shots higher.

Where Greg was wrong, in my opinion, was that he suggested the greens needed to be faster but they couldn't be made that way because ''players would be putting off greens and into the water''. That was a wildly inaccurate assertion.

Unlike most of the championship greens in the country, the greens at The Lakes rely on internal contour for their difficulty and they do not need great speed to make them demanding.

Most of our championship greens are simply tilted either from front to back or from side to side and there is very little internal movement. They rely on great speed to make them difficult. There was no great speed at Victoria GC a few weeks ago at The Masters and the low scoring reflected that.

The ideal championship test at The Lakes would have the greens firm and bouncy and the speeds only marginally faster than they were last week.

It is a subtly different game but one that in eminently suited to top-level golf.

With different weather next year the course will play quite differently. It will ask for different skills but Ogilvy will still be the one most likely to answer them the best.

Unnoticed by all but his caddy and his family was the fourth-placed man, Jordan Sherrett.

A few years ago we played a senior tournament in Perth with a bunch of schoolboy and schoolgirl champions from around the country.

Jordan almost beat Peter Senior over the 36 holes but more impressively he was in the clubhouse after asking Wayne Grady all about the Open Championship playoff at Troon between Grady, Norman and Mark Calcavecchia. He knew all about the history of what had happened even though he must have only been only a couple of years old way back in 1989.

This was one of his very first tournaments as a professional and he plays really well.

He is one whose progress will be worth watching.