Goose chase turns into a stroll in the park

Golf/European Open: It proved to be nothing more than a wild goose chase. With the minimum of fuss, and in no danger of feeling stress, Retief Goosen - in a zone of his own - took 68 shots in the final round of the Smurfit European Open at the K Club yesterday for a 13-under-par total of 275, which left him five strokes clear of those closest to him in the futile pursuit, writes Philip Reid at the K Club.

It was, simply, an afternoon stroll in the park for the South African, who simply doesn't know what it's like to lose these days.

Let's settle financial matters first. The €550,004 winner's cheque - adroitly caught in the wind by Dr Michael Smurfit at the presentation ceremony on the 18th green - when added to his take from his US Open victory, brought Goosen's earnings from the past two tournaments to almost €1.5 million, more than he'd earned in all of last season. It's been quite a fortnight for the man known as The Goose.

Yesterday, on a day considerably calmer than those that preceded it, the course didn't have the same bite. Justin Rose, despite starting his round with a double-bogey six, proved the point. The Englishman shot a course record 65 that included no fewer than 10 birdies. "After my start, it was less than a conscious effort . . . there was no internal fighting," he explained. It will have been a confidence booster going into the Scottish Open where he will seek to win an exemption into the following week's British Open at Royal Troon.

Yet, while Rose found birdies galore, none of those who began the day in closest pursuit of Goosen could. Instead, Goosen, who had started the final round one shot clear of Jose Manuel Lara, found himself in an unexpected position just five holes into his round, after his second birdie.

"I couldn't believe it," he admitted. Without any dramatics, he was suddenly five shots clear of his closest challengers and, from then on, the gameplan was simply to avoid any mistakes. Typically, he didn't record a single bogey.

"I couldn't get into any kind of rhythm and didn't feel particularly good on the greens either, it was pretty pathetic all day to be honest. I missed a few other short putts and didn't really make anything."

"I could have run Retief close, but nobody put any pressure on him," remarked Lee Westwood, who finished in a three-way tie for second alongside Australians Richard Green and Peter O'Malley.

For the Irish, it was a day of "what ifs", with Paul McGinley, shooting a 73 for 285, finishing as leading home player in tied-10th position.

For the other two players - Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke - already exempt for Troon, they must grab whatever positives they can from their positions well down the field, in tied-52nd and tied-59th respectively.

"My results in recent weeks don't reflect how well I've played," insisted Harrington. "I've probably played the last four weeks better in this period than I have any year since turning professional. I normally struggle at this time of the year, but I swung the club 100 times better here than I did when we lost the play-off (in the Buick Classic on the US Tour three weeks ago)."

For Goosen, though, this purple patch represents the best form of his career. In his 13th season as a professional, this was the first time he'd won back-to-back, and doing so by winning a major and then one of the European Tour's flagship events led him to remark, "All round, I suppose this is the best I've ever played. I feel I've learned so much more and can get it together better."

Indeed, so at ease is Goosen with his game these days that he has decided to miss this week's Scottish Open. "I felt it would be better for me to have a week off and relax and get mentally ready for Troon," he explained.

Prior to the European Open, Goosen had suggested he was "tired" and that his expectations were relatively low. Yesterday, after the fact, he admitted, "No, I was expecting to play well. I liked the way the course was set up and it was in good condition. I knew if I played well that I had a good chance of winning."

Goosen is the least demonstrative player on tour. But he observed: "You're always under pressure, it is part of the game. I am just learning to trust my abilities under pressure, and that is what it is all about. We all hit the ball well and it is just the guys who can putt under pressure and hit the right shots that come out winning at the end of the week."

It'll be up to others in the British Open field, when Goosen next appears, to prove he's not invincible.