Goosen in stunning Qatar win
Brad Morgan
29 January 2007
Retief Goosen went through 2006 without a victory on the PGA European Tour, having last won in December 2005 when he claimed the SAA Open title. It didn't take him long to pick up his first win of 2007, however, as he claimed the Qatar Masters with a spectacular finish on Sunday.
The Goose opened with a seven-under-par 65 to take the first round lead. But after two rounds matters became tighter as he carded a 68 to share the lead with Richard Green.
After three rounds there was a three-way tie atop the leaderboard as Nick O'Hern joined Goosen and Green out front on 12-under-par 204 after Goosen and Green posted 71s and O'Hern a 69.
Two shot deficit
With the tournament winding down, O'Hern appeared set for victory after he closed with 70, which left him two shots clear of Goosen. The South African star, though, had other ideas.
He recorded a birdie on the seventeenth, after almost holing his nine-iron
on the 142-metre hole. That left him needing a birdie on the final hole, a 536-metre par-five, to set up a playoff.
Goosen smashed a big drive down the centre of the fairway, something he hadn't managed in the previous three rounds, and followed that with a three-wood of 256 metres that ran through the back of the green and into the fringe grass. That left him with a 15-metre putt, with a left to right swing, and over two levels of the green.
Incredible putt
Incredibly, Goosen sank the putt to steal a spectacular victory with a three-under-par 69. The win was worth over R2.4-million.
In winning, he became the second South African winner of the event after Ernie Els won it in 2005. It was Goosen's thirty-second career victory.
This time around Els enjoyed a solid showing, securing sole possession of third-place, two shots back of Goosen and one behind O'Hern on 13-under-par 275, following rounds of 69, 71, 68, and 67.
Had
it not been for him missing two putts he would have expected to make on the fourteenth and seventeenth, he would have been right in the mix for title honours.
Changing his swing
After taking on a swing coach late in 2006, Goosen has been tinkering with his swing in the hope of elevating his game. It helped him successfully defend the China Masters title in October, but, surprisingly, he reckons he wasn't hitting the ball all that well in Doha.
"I came up with plenty of bad swings over the four rounds but my good ones were encouragingly good," he said.
His victory he put down to his ability to scramble; potential bogeys he turned into pars, and likely pars he turned into birdies. Then, of course, there was the sensational eagle on the last hole.
"It's a great honour to be the new champion here and it's nice to get a win so early on as it sort of gets you going a little bit for the rest of the year," said Goosen.
Coming up
Next up for Goosen and Els is the Dubai Desert Classic and a showdown against world number one Tiger Woods, who secured his seventh PGA Tour title in succession at the weekend when he won the Buick Invitational.
Goosen, after his fifth-place finish in the Abu Dhabi Championship and his victory in the Qatars Masters, and Els, after his third-place in Doha, should be reasonably confident of challenging Woods for the title at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.
Selected results
Retief Goosen (RSA) 65 68 71 69 273
Nick O'Hern (Aus) 66 69 69 70 274
Ernie Els (RSA) 69 71 68 67 275
Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 69 71 66 276
Richard Green (Aus) 68 65 71 72 276
Graeme McDowell (NIR) 73 68 68 67 276
Andres Romero (Arg) 70 71 67 69 277
Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 68 70 71 277
Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 67 72 68 278
Wen-Chong Liang (Chn) 69 67 72 70 278
Anton Haig (RSA) 71 70 72 73
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