Retief toughs it out at Sun City
Brad Morgan
6 December 2004
The word before the Nedbank Golf Challenge teed off on 2 December was that the course would be a tougher test than in the past. Just how much tougher was shown by the fact that only three players in a world-class field finished below par for the event.
With hindsight, knowing how tough the course played, it should have been obvious that the tournament was Retief Goosen's to win.
Only four times during the course of the Nedbank Challenge was 70 broken, three times by players carding 69, and then there was Jim Furyk's superb six-under par 66 in the third round, which provided the tournament’s best scoring.
Course designer Gary Player had predicted that a score of eight-under par 280 would win it, and he was close in his assessment. Goosen bogeyed the final hole to finish on seven-under 281, but that was still good enough for a very comfortable six-shot victory over Ernie Els and Stuart Appleby.
Somehow the Goose managed to crack par
in all four rounds - carding 70, 71, 71, and 69 - to bag the huge first prize of US$1.2-million. In rand terms (6 December 2004) that translated into R6.85-million, or approximately R1.71-million per round!
And it turns out he did it under even greater pressure than the course provided.
After winning the event, Goosen admitted he had very nearly withdrawn from it because he had been struggling with flu since competing in the Grand Slam of Golf in Hawaii, and, more importantly, because he had learned that his second child, Ella, and wife, Tracy, were in hospital with chest infections on Wednesday.
Tracy, though, convinced him to stay on at Sun City and compete. It all worked out well: he won the tournament, and his wife and daughter are doing much better.
That is the thing about Goosen, though. The more pressure one puts on the man, the better he seems to perform. It is quite something that he manages to do it with some sort of regularity, too, because up at
the top of world golf there are many brilliant players.
Yet, when the circumstances are at their toughest, he somehow raises his game to a level others just cannot attain. It becomes something akin to a car race that heads off road, onto seldom traveled tracks, and Goosen engages four-by-four drive against others driving cars built for cruising on tarred highways.
His victory at Sun City, along with his second US Open win earlier in 2004, are clear proof of this.
Those two wins were part of a very successful four-win season in 2004 that also included victories in the European Open and the Tour Championship in the USA. It should be noted, again, that all four of the quiet South African's wins were in high-profile tournaments that attracted strong fields.
Speaking after wrapping up victory, Goosen said, in his own quiet manner: "I believe I have the talent to get to number one, especially after the way I've played this year and so, yes, it's my goal." There is
no doubt he has the game, and the mental strength to do just that; it seems there is nothing that can rattle Retief Goosen, except concerns about his family.
Lee Westwood, who headed into the final round with a one-shot lead, on five-under par, partnered the Goose in the final round. However, like Ernie Els at the US Open earlier in the year, he slipped to an 80 in the final round, tumbling down the leaderboard to finish in a tie for sixth on three-over par after his eight-over par final round.
Els finished tied with Stuart Appleby for second, on one-under par 287, after closing with a one-under 71. Appleby, who led the event on five-under after two rounds, posted a second successive 74.
Jim Furyk followed up his great 66 in the third round with a level-par 72 to finish on level-par 288 overall. Chris DiMarco's final round of 74 left him tied with his fellow American for fourth.
Then came Jay Haas, tied with Westwood for sixth on three-over, followed by
British Open champion Todd Hamilton, who ended on four-over par 292 in his first visit to Sun City.
Three-time champion Nick Price struggled on the inward nine, carding 42 for a final round 78, which saw him slip to five-over. Only Westwood found the final nine tougher, going seven-over and into freefall.
Tournament rookie Frederic Jacobson struggled in the opening two rounds, but closed nicely with two level-par rounds of 72 to finish on nine-over 297. Fellow rookie Chad Campbell also produced two rounds of 72 to end on 11-over 299.
Defending champion Sergio Garcia had a title defence to forget, never challenging par and finishing 15-over par for the tournament on 303. What a change from 2003, when he edged out Goosen in a playoff on 14-under par 270!
This time around, though, the Spaniard was never managed to get close to the South African and, ultimately, Goosen made sure it wasn't a near miss for anyone else this time around.
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