Goosen still in mix after bizarre round

Home hope Retief Goosen produced a bizarre first round in the South African Open, which culminated in a disastrous 11 on the 17th after he appeared to have mastered the Humewood course.

Goosen, one of the few big names who went out late on a windswept afternoon, was heading for a 63 and was three shots up on the field when disaster struck and left him just off the pace set by a pack of four including his compatriot Ernie Els and Englishman Andrew Raitt.

He pulled his first ball left into bushes, then decided on a provisional ball but pulled that one right into more trouble. He eventually found his second ball and was granted relief two club lengths clear of the unplayable spot.

After the first drop, the ball rolled backwards, within the two clubs, and therefore deemed still playable.

Goosen did not realise that, picked the ball up and dropped again.

That resulted in a two-shot penalty ruling afterwards, European Tour official Andy McFee stopping him seconds before he signed his card to inform him he had taken 11 on the hole.

Still unaware of that, Goosen birdied the 18th for what he thought gave him a share of the lead.

Instead, the penalty dropped him back to two shots behind the leaders and a remarkable but still-respectable 69 for the round.

Raitt shared the lead with tournament favourite Els, Trevor Immelman and Spain’s Carl Suneson after a five-under 67, but the Goosen debacle overshadowed the entire day’s play.

One shot behind them was another Englishman, Lee Westwood, still struggling with back troubles, as well as Els’ close friend Des Terblanche and Sweden’s Patrik Sjoland. Sheffield’s Gareth Davies was one shot further back, beside Goosen.

McFee explained afterwards: “When you declare a ball unplayable you have a number of options.

“You can go back under stroke and distance. You can keep where the ball lies between you and the hole and go back as far as you like or you can take the option, which Goose took, to drop it within two club lengths of where it lies.

“He took an unplayable ball drop, so he had two club lengths from where the ball lay. He has to drop the ball within those two club lengths, which he did.

“It then rolled just outside the two clubs lengths and he was under the impression he had to re-drop the ball.

“But you only re-drop the ball if it rolls more than two club lengths from where it strikes the ground.

"The ball didn’t do that and it didn’t roll nearer the hole, so the ball was in play.

“Effectively when it is in play he has no authority to touch it or pick it up. If he only picked it up it’s a one-stroke penalty, but because he didn’t replace it it was a two-shot penalty for a general breach of rule 18.”

McFee did not have time to view the tape and picked up the transgression via text messages, asking other officials to view it, while he hastily tried to stop Goosen from signing his card.

“I got to him in the recording area before he signed his card and the nine became an 11,” he reported.

“As soon as I started talking to him to ask what happened, because it happened so quickly I didn’t have an opportunity to see the tape, there was a kind of a realisation and he nodded and went: ‘Yeah. I got it.’

“He said: ‘That’s an 11, isn’t it?’ and I answered: 'Yes.' He knew that rule, but in the fog of war it escaped him. As soon as we talked in the recording area, he realised and knew his mistake.”

Els, perhaps the best served by the bad luck that befell his friend, said: “The first round is always important and I am in a good position.

Englishman Richard Finch scored a hole in one on the 12th, winning himself a million flight miles from tournament sponsors South African Airways and finishing with a 71.