Goose wins wire-to-wire in China
Brad Morgan
5 September 2005
Retief Goosen continued his recent strong form by landing the China Masters title with a wire-to-wire victory at the weekend. It followed his victory in The International at the beginning of August.
The world number five first set and then equaled the Jinghua Golf Club course record, firing an eight-under par 64 in the first and last rounds as he finished on 22-under par 266.
Earlier in the year, his challenge in the US Open and the British Open was undone by uncharacteristically wayward final rounds, but he dominated the final round in Beijing to claim the China Masters by six shots over US Open champion Michael Campbell.
On the first hole, Goosen needed a 15-foot putt to save par, but he followed that up with seven birdies in the next eight holes to race away from the field. Speaking after his win, the Goose commented that he read the greens well on the day.
US Open winner Campbell summed up the South African star's performance
by calling it "awesome".
"He's a world class player and he showed it today," said the Kiwi ace, who began the fourth round one shot adrift of Goosen.
Campbell finished second on 16-under par 272, five shots clear of third-placed Lian-wei Zhang, with David Brandson in fourth on 278 and Gary Simpson in fifth on 279.
Lower down the standings, Hendrik Buhrmann finished on 7-under par 281 after closing with a 69. Keith Horne ended on two-under 286 following a 74 in the final round, and Chris Williams closed on level-par 288 after a 71. Craig Kamps missed the cut.
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