South African Open:Defending champion Retief Goosen says he would relish another big duel for the South African Open title at Humewood Golf Club today.

Last year, Goosen and fellow South African Ernie Els produced a titanic struggle for the second oldest Open championship in the world at The Links course at Fancourt.

Goosen chipped in for a birdie on the 17th and closed out victory with a birdie on the last after Els narrowly missed a six-foot eagle putt to force a play-off.

"I would love it to come down to that again," Goosen said. "This is a great golf course for a duel and I would enjoy another battle like it."

Els and Goosen, the only two top-10 ranked players in the field of this European Tour event, also duelled at Humewood in 1992 for the Goodyear Classic on the Sunshine Tour. Els won by a shot.

Among the other leading players are South Africa's Trevor Immelman, ranked 13th, and Argentina's Angel Cabrera, ranked 25th.

Humewood - the only genuine links course in South Africa - last staged the South African Open in 1957. While organisers have done their best to ensure that the course is in pristine condition, difficult weather conditions prior to the event have left the layout below its best.

"The course has the characteristics of great links courses, with dunes and hollows all over the place," Els said. "But I've seen the course in better shape.

"They've had tough weather conditions with a long drought and then floods in August. It's the same for everybody though and I'm definitely in with a fighting chance."

Meanwhile, amateur golfers will have their own world ranking from next month, the Royal and Ancient Club announced yesterday.

"The level of international support for its adoption has convinced us that it will be seen throughout the golfing nations as an increasingly useful tool and as a way of comparing one elite amateur player against another," R&A director Mike Tate said of the system, which was first proposed as a means of clarifying entry into its championships.