South Australian Wade Ormsby will endeavor to rid himself of five years of torment when he returns to RACV Royal Pines Resort this week for the Australian PGA Championship.

Two years ago Ormsby arrived on the Gold Coast on an emotional high after recording his maiden European Tour win at the UBS Hong Kong Open yet it is the playoff heartache hanging over him from the 2014 PGA Championship at Royal Pines that remains raw to the touch.

Tied with good friend Adam Scott and Greg Chalmers at the conclusion of 72 holes, Ormsby missed a golden opportunity from inside 10 feet to win on the second playoff hole; one further trip down the 18th hole and he was eliminated altogether.

Chalmers ultimately triumphed on the record seventh playoff hole, a win Ormsby was not present to witness first-hand: “I was halfway to the airport by then.”

Speaking on this week’s PGA Golf Club podcast, Ormsby unwittingly revealed the scar left by that defeat and why raising the Joe Kirkwood Cup on Sunday would mean so much to his family.

“It still grinds on me that six or seven-footer I jacked there a few years ago to miss that one against ‘Scotty’ and Chalmers,” Ormsby said.

“Luckily it was on the old green; that green’s been torn up now.

“Obviously any Australian playing at home you want to get one of those big ones under your belt, either an Aussie Open, PGA or Masters when it was about.

“The PGA of Australia is something that is pretty close to the family’s heart so that would one be pretty special.”

It was in 2014 that Ormsby’s father, Peter Ormsby, was awarded life membership of the PGA of Australia and retired after decades of wonderful service in Adelaide earlier this year.

Now entering his 17th year on the European Tour, 39-year-old Ormsby is now nearing veteran status himself but has an enhanced sense of belief that he can contend against the likes of Scott, Cameron Smith and Cameron Champ this week.

“The truth is I’m closer to the end than the start but I feel as though my best golf is ahead of me,” Ormsby said of his career trajectory.

“You mature out there. You get a lot more comfortable in your life off the golf course and your belief mechanism goes up. You get in the hunt a lot more. I was never in the hunt my first three or four years on tour so I had to do a lot of learning out there on the road.

“I had to learn how to get in the hunt and throw golf tournaments and how to get in the hunt and try and win golf tournaments. I’m kind of doing that towards the end of my career where a lot of guys do that in amateur golf.

“Royal Pines isn’t a bad golf course for me. It’s got pretty complex green areas where you’ve got to be a bit strategic in the way that you approach them.

“The guys that have been there a bit over the past few years are going to have a bit of an advantage. You’ve just got to keep plotting your way around and take your opportunities when they come; it’s just that type of golf course.

“The game feels in a pretty good place so if I can make some putts up there I won’t be too far away.”