Related News

Home » Sports » Golf

Goosen clinches Transitions title

RETIEF Goosen held on to win the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, by a single stroke from Americans Brett Quigley and Charles Howell III on Sunday.

The South African, who had not won on the PGA Tour since 2005, shot a 1-under round of 70 to finish 8-under for the week. The 40-year-old had a nervy round, starting with a bogey on the par-four second before a birdie on the ninth ensured he finished his front nine on even-par. The decisive hole proved to the par-five 11th, where Goosen sunk a 17 foot putt to eagle the hole.

A bogey on the par four 16th ?? where Goosen hooked to the left rough, then found the greenside bunker before two-putting, kept the tension going until the end.

The South African needed to sink his final putt, from nearly five feet, to avoid going into a playoff with Quigley and Howell and he kept his cool to end his winless spell in the US.

"Eventually you wonder if you can still do it," he said.

"I did win in Malaysia in November, and I won in South Africa in January. So at least I've won some events in the last few months."

Howell produced a late run with three birdies in four holes between the 11th and the 14th but then undid his good work with bogeys on the 15th and 16th. "The golf course was unbelievably difficult," he said.

"I can't think of the last time I've seen a course change more from Thursday and Friday to Saturday and Sunday that wasn't a major."

Quigley, who also lost by a shot in last week's Puerto Rico Open, put himself in contention after birdies on the 13th and 14th but he chose not to watch Goosen's final putt.

There was disappointment for Tom Lehman, who started the round in the hunt for his first PGA Tour win in nine years but ended up four over. Lehman had three bogeys on the front nine and then made a hash of the 16th where he double-bogeyed after driving his tee shot into the water.



 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend