GOLF/BellSouth Classic: Defending champion Retief Goosen fired a warning to all the pretenders to his BellSouth Classic crown by setting the early pace in Atlanta yesterday. Goosen, winner of the European Order of Merit for the last two years, took advantage of a 7.30 a.m. tee-off time to lay down an early challenge.
A birdie at the par four first appeared to be the ideal start but Goosen was brought back down to earth immediately as he bogeyed the short par three second.
Goosen played par golf to the turn, going out in 36, but produced a blistering run of four birdies in the next eight holes to take the joint clubhouse lead with Bob Burns, Billy Andrade, Aaron Barber and Brad Lardon.
A four at the 608-yard 10th, which presents the first birdie opportunity on the back nine as, despite its length, it is all downhill, sparked Goosen into life.
Pars at 11 and 12 holes were followed by a third birdie of the round at the short 310-yard par four 13th as Goosen moved into position to attack the top of the leaderboard.
Successive birdies at the par three 16th and par four 17th allowed Goosen to sink his putt on the par five 18th for a round of 68.
Dubliner Padraig Harrington, Europe's big hope in this tournament after finishing first and second in his last two strokeplay events on the American tour, had a good start to his round.
Beginning on the back nine, he started in a steady fashion par-par-par before two birdies on 13th and 14th holes. However, he undid his hard work by suffering successive bogeys at his ninth and 10th before steadying again with a par on the 12th.
Virtual unknown John Morgan led the British challenge in the early stages as he birdied his first two holes to go to two under.
Morgan (25) turned professional in exactly two years ago and after earning his 2003 European Tour Card became the first rookie to earn a card on both the PGA and European Tours in the same season.
Starting at the 10th, where Goosen began his good run, the Portishead player matched the South African's four but went one better on the 189-yard 11th, considered the most treacherous par three on the course as the drive is entirely over water, as a birdie there put him two shots off the lead.
Scotland's Paul Lawrie was not far behind, although two birdies in his first six holes were spoiled by a bogey at the fifth.
Starting with two pars, the 1999 Open champion then recorded back-to-back birdies before disappointingly dropping a shot.
Meanwhile, organisers of the 2005 Solheim Cup, the biennial showdown between United States and European golfers, said yesterday that the 2005 matches will be conducted in Carmel, Indiana, on September 9th-11th.
The ninth edition of the Ryder Cup-styled event will be played at Crooked Stick Golf Club in suburban Indianapolis, a Scottish links-like course where John Daly won the PGA Championship in 1991.
US players are 5 to 2 in Solheim Cup play and have never lost on home soil, including a 15 ½-12½ triumph last year.
This year's Solheim Cup will be contested September 12th-14th in Malmo, the first time the event has been conducted outside of US or British courses.
The Barseback Country Club course will host the Scandinavian Masters just six weeks before the Solheim Cup.
• The c-word in golf is cheating and, perish the thought, the US tour is introducing a device which will detect which players, if any, are using illegal drivers.
Some members believe that there are fellow competitors who have gone from being short to average hitters to suspiciously long, particularly off the tee.
So the tour has created a portable testing machine which will measure the co-efficient of restitution - the amount of spring in the face of a driver - and will start using it at tournaments this year.
Officials say that the purpose is not to root out cheats but to allow players to "test their own equipment to ensure its conformity".
But they also admit that players can ask for others to be tested and that if anyone fails after completing a round, he would be disqualified. And, presumably, shunned for life.
