For those of us bored to tears with the onedimensional, straight-ball hitting that passes for golf at the highest level these days, it was a joy to watch. Not only did the 31-year-old hit almost every fairway, he did so by shaping the ball right-to-left or left-to-right as required. The relatively mindless crash-bang-wallop style was nowhere to be seen.

"Man, that was fun," he said, a huge grin across his face.

Ogilvy, of course, has a mind of his own, which by itself is enough to identify him as hardly your typical modern tour professional. So it was no surprise to see him sign up for the European Tour's new 'Race to Dubai' even as - Anthony Kim apart - America's pampered wee souls decided to stay at home.

"I was definitely getting a little stale," he says. "For the last few years I have played the same 16 PGA Tour events plus the majors. Playing the same courses was wearing me out. So this will add another dimension to my schedule.

"I'd be lying if I said the money on offer wasn't part of my decision though. I'm a professional golfer who plays the game for a living. But when I sat down to map out my schedule it was actually quite exciting. There are a few options. I can go to the Middle East at the start of the year. Or I can go to the UK in May and play for a couple of weeks. Or I can play two events before the Open. Or I can go to Asia towards the end of next year. Those are the main avenues."

While Ogilvy, currently 14th in the world rankings, has yet to make up his mind which of those routes he will follow in 2009, one event definitely on his - and everyone else's - schedule is the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

"I've had trouble with the Open the last couple of years," he admits. "Doing it the way I thought was right - not playing on a soft, inland course the week before - I've been horrible and missed the cut. So this year I will definitely play at Loch Lomond. I may even play in France the week before. Historically I have always played well in the third of three-week bursts, so that may be the way to go.

"If I do go to France, I probably won't go to Wentworth for the PGA Championship. That is the one I really want to play in, so that would be disappointing. On the other hand, this isn't going to be a one-year thing for me. I'll be playing enough in Europe every year. So over time I'm sure I'll do a bit of everything.

"The big beneficiary, however, is going to be the Scottish Open. Making everyone play at least twice in Europe has virtually made Loch Lomond a compulsory stop. It's a great event and it will be even better now. I used to come back and play in it, even after I joined the PGA Tour. So I've been there three or four times. It's nice to stay there on the lake... sorry loch!"

As to why more Americans have not taken up the chance to land the multi-million-dollar Dubai jackpot on offer next November, Ogilvy makes the fair point that such an option is realistically available to only a relatively small number of Uncle Sam's nephews.

"The only ones who can really do it are those who are exempt into the World Golf Championships and the majors," he points out. "We're only talking about the top 50 and the bottom 15-20 of those changes all the time. So you're down to maybe 30 candidates and only 15 of them are American. That's not so many when you think about it.

"Those Americans who do join won't be doing it for the money either. Even those 'Fall Series' events after the Tour Championship have $5m purses. So they are bigger than those on the 'Race to Dubai;' you can win more money in the US."

Still, Ogilvy is a fan of the European Tour's bold new concept, one that may, in time, see a welcome shift in the professional game's powerbase away from the week-to-week sameness that is the PGA Tour. Not that such an eventuality will be easy to achieve.

"One thing about the PGA Tour is its seductiveness," concedes Ogilvy. "They look after us so well and there is so much money that even those with the best intentions stay. It just makes no logical sense to go anywhere else. You have to fight against your instincts to go anywhere else. It can be done though. You can support the PGA Tour and play a full schedule and still fit in some interesting stuff at the beginning and end of the season.

"Hopefully, the 'Race to Dubai' will get bigger and better as it goes on though. If it does, the best Americans will surely want to be there. They won't be able to stay away. I have a feeling that, three years from now, Dubai is going to be the place to be in November.

"Money isn't everything though. Historically, the biggest and best things in golf have had nothing to do with money. When I holed from four feet on the last green at Winged Foot to win the US Open two years ago I had no idea how much money we were playing for. It was only the next day that I thought about what I'd won in cash terms. So the money by itself isn't necessarily going to make Dubai work."