So it probably gives them some feeling of satisfaction to hear that the professionals do also.

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, took a break this year from the game that pays his bills because he couldn't find his rhythm with the putter. He tried dozens of different putters in an attempt to get it right.

But now he is at Lake Karrinyup for the Perth International on Thursday, on the back of some good performances and is confident of a bold showing in a strong field.

"I took three weeks off in the middle of the year because I had a gut full of feeling like I wasn't getting out of it what I was putting into it," Ogilvy said.

"I was always a pretty decent putter, I guess. Maybe I took putting for granted a little bit because I never really found it too difficult.

"I must've used or tried 20 or 30 different putters this year, which is crazy. I used basically the same putter for my whole life. Well, a different version of the exact same putter for my whole life.

"I was trying the heavy ones and counterbalance and mallets. I'd have five or six different putters in a week, which is searching.

"But it was a situation I wasn't used to."

So Ogilvy sought some help and watched some video of his game and came the conclusion that he wasn't doing too much wrong.

"I just need to kind of wait for them to go in," he said.

And they did.

Ogilvy returned from a month away from the US Tour, where he took his family to San Diego for a beach holiday, to play in the Canadian Open, where he finished in a tie for 34^th spot. Despite carding two rounds of 68 he almost skipped the Barracuda Championship in Reno the following week.

He played and he won the modified stableford event, which was highlighted by sinking some terrific long putts.

Then at the end of August he finished in a tie for second spot after taking just 26 putts in the final round of the FedEx Cup event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, off the back of consecutive rounds of 65 over the weekend.

"Golf is a strange game. I was playing really well most of the year; just didn't make any putts," he said.

"Mentally I was ready to kind of, in the middle of the year, just write this year off.

"Came back [from a few weeks off] and played really well, won Reno, and then a few weeks later I finished second."

So now the world's number 78 ranked golfer is in Perth in a course he hasn't played on in almost a decade since he was an amateur, feeling pretty good about his chances.

Again, he is refreshed, having not played since the Tour Championship in Atlanta four weeks ago.

"If I just praised the value of having a break, I've come off [four weeks] off since whenever we played in Atlanta. I didn't touch a club for four weeks again," he said.

"Golf is an odd game. If you think you're going to play well usually you don't. Just got to wait and see what happens.

"I like how I'm playing. Hopefully I can get in the mix on Sunday and see what happens."