HIS par putt on the 18th lipped out, and Retief Goosen had visions of one of the chasing pack catching him, but his final round 65 was enough to win the Africa Open at the East London Golf Club by a single stroke.
For a man who has been agonising over his putting for months, he putted coolly under pressure to hold off the hard-charging youngster Branden Grace of South Africa, Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey and Darren Clarke and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt.
‘I hit a fairly good putt, good line, the first time and it came up short,’ said Goosen of that little shudder on the 18th.
‘I thought the next one was a right edge putt, but it didn’t turn and lipped out and then I knew I was going to have a play-off. I was very surprised that none of the other guys get to 21-under, so I was lucky with that mistake.’
Until that final putt, it was the cool Goosen of old as he birdied four of the opening nine holes to put the pressure on overnight leaders James Kingston and Clarke.
Kingston had got out of the blocks fast, but when he got a horrible triple-bogey on the 14th, he crashed out of contention.
Clarke was dogged throughout, but a bogey five on the ninth cost him dearly, and when his approach to the 18th overshot the green, his challenge petered out, as he needed a birdie to force the playoff.
But it was Grace who was the revelation. The 21-year-old started the day at 13-under for the tournament, and four birdies and a bogey on the outward nine gave notice of his intentions.
Four more birdies on the inward stretch, and he was suddenly in a four-way tie for second. ‘I thought I would just go out as hard as I could, but it really was a bit much to make up,’ said Grace, who can’t be too far off his maiden victory. – Supersport
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