Goosen mows down Maggert to claim matchplay record

RETIEF GOOSEN broke a World Matchplay record at Wentworth yesterday when he hammered American Jeff Maggert 12 and 11 in the rain-affected first round.

The previous biggest defeat in the event had belonged, believe it or not, to current world number one Vijay Singh, who was crushed 11 and 10 by Mark O’Meara six years ago.

Maggert was the inaugural winner of the Andersen Consulting world match play in California in 1999, defeating Tiger Woods along the way, but Goosen took seven of the first 10 holes against him and with a 10-up lead at halfway equalled the championship best of O’Meara and Tom Watson.

The reigning US Open champion did not lose a single hole in the game, matching Maggert’s birdies at the eighth, 22nd and 23rd and finishing things off with a 20-foot birdie putt two holes later. He was 10 under par at the time.

Goosen then had to wait to see if it was Lee Westwood or British Open champion Todd Hamilton he faced for a place in the semi-finals.

Goosen said: “Tomorrow it might be my turn - that’s how it works in match play.

“I didn’t know what the record was, but it’s nice to have that achievement. I kept telling myself to stay focused because you know how quickly it can turn. Jeff didn’t play his best, but you can play really well and get nailed.

“He said ‘well played and keep playing well’.

“He couldn’t say much else.”

Goosen was the only player to get through early and the added bonus was that it saved him a few extra miles of walking.

He fractured his pelvis in a jet-ski accident in Barbados in July and is still working his way back to full fitness.

He is playing his fifth Match Play, but has yet to reach the semi-finals.

Previously his most memorable victory was one over Sergio Garcia when the young Spaniard took off a shoe, kicked it and nearly hit the match referee after slipping on a tee.