Goosen's fury after slow play jibe backfires badly
Goosen, the Madrid defending champion, threatened he might even quit the tour after his bad time was confirmed at the recording tent. The South African was also clearly upset because of his words the previous day when he had labelled Harrington the slowest player on the European Tour.
Goosen was given his bad time on the 15th hole by Spanish tournament director Jose Maria Zamora but stayed in control of his emotions long enough to shoot a five-under-par 66, although he missed a six-foot birdie putt on the last to deny himself the same score as Harrington.
The Irishman's 65 left him only a stroke off the first round leader Lee Westwood, who is continuing to build on his change of form brought about by Europe's Ryder Cup success, leading a tournament for the first time since the autumn 2000 Belgian Open.
When Goosen, playing alongside Westwood, was confronted by Zamora after signing his card, the normally mild-mannered South African finally lost his cool. "Perhaps I'll go and play somewhere else," said Goosen Zamora was left to do the explaining: "Retief was given a bad time on the 15th with his second shot, on which he took 60 seconds when he is only allowed 40 seconds.
"I had to tell him because with two warnings there is a one-shot penalty. His group was 21 minutes over schedule and I told them we were struggling with television coverage.
"The group went on the clock on the 14th because they were 21 minutes behind for 13 holes."
Although Harrington's group, playing right behind Goosen and Westwood, were also put on the clock, Zamora said none of them had bad times.
Westwood, though, also picked up a slow-play warning on the 18th when he took 98 seconds to play his second shot from a bunker. The tournament leader, while refusing to let the incident spoil his best day for nearly two years, was unhappy with his treatment and sympathised with playing-partner Goosen.
"A rules official didn't agree I had that difficult a shot at the 18th," said Westwood. "So I got a bad time.
"I think there should be some leeway if you're leading a tournament and a little bit of discretion should be used. And, anyway, we were one-and-a-half holes in front of the group behind, so I don't understand why we were warned.
"Over Retief's bad time, the wind was swirling around, with the flag on the back on back edge and the ball could have spun right back down the slope so he had to get it right and sometimes you have to back off. Harrington refused to be drawn into the conflict, saying: "Do I care? No." Asked about Goosen's slow play comments the Dubliner stated: ''It's a distraction, but there are a load of distractions to get over and you have to dig down deep and focus.
''I did that very well today. The only thing on my mind was my golf and I'm not interested in what happens to other people. I don't need anybody else to motivate me - I am a very motivated person.''
When Goosen proved to be still unapproachable to Zamora later on, the official said he would have a quiet word with the South African before the second round.
The last time Westwood shot lower was when a 63 helped him win the Scandinavian Masters in August 2000 - and the last time he led after any round was the last time he won, the Belgacom Open 24 months ago.
''I enjoyed every minute of that,'' said the 29-year-old, who has plunged from fourth in the world in May last year to his current 155th.
''The Ryder Cup was the turning point for me. I worked hard for that and playing well in front of that many people is bound to boost your confidence.
''It's very, very satisfying. I had eight or nine birdies in the pro-am and felt I was going to play quite well. To go out and do it is here today is absolutely great."
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