Goosen retains title at Harrington expense

South African Retief Goosen today clinched his second successive European Order of Merit title – with an admission that he has not played well for all but one week of the last six months.

Goosen, who last year topped the money list in style by winning the Madrid Open, managed only a 12 over par total in the Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

But with an equally off-form Padraig Harrington 13 over that was good enough and the Irishman said: “Obviously I’m disappointed, but it’s strengthened my resolve to win it at some stage.”

The 33-year-old Goosen becomes the first non-European ever to win the Order of Merit two years in a row – but also the first player since Sandy Lyle in 1980 to lift the crown winning only one tournament.

“To have the trophy in my trophy cabinet is something special, but I’m knackered,” he commented.

“I’m probably cutting back on my schedule next year. I think I’ll be playing pretty much the same in America, but probably four or five fewer in Europe.

“I’ve been travelling a lot and there was a point in the last couple of months when I knew I was getting tired, but knew I had to keep going.”

Goosen’s wife Tracy is expecting their first child in the middle of March and the world number four intends taking virtually the whole month off.

Harrington, ecstatic about his second place on the money list last year because he won the Volvo Masters to achieve it, said tiredness was not a factor for his failure to close the €23,000 gap in the final week.

Instead he blamed a change of focus. “I was not playing the Volvo Masters this week, I was trying to win the Order of Merit, which is silly,” he stated.

“You get ahead of yourself and I was not myself the last three weeks because there was so much attention on the money list. But I’ve learnt from the experience and bar the tournament I won I could give you a sob story from every week.

“You have to be a little bit barmy to be out here and I suppose it’s debatable whether I am, but you would really go barmy if you look at what you’ve lost at each event.

“What’s good is that there’s not a part of my game I can’t improve. I can improve leaps and bounds in all areas.

“At least Retief played a good round today. He went out and won it.”

Harrington was one ahead overnight, but managed only a closing 73 while his rival overcame a double-bogey five on the third to return a level-par 71.

Goosen’s only victory was the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia in January, but second places behind Tiger Woods in both the Masters at Augusta in April and American Express world championship in Ireland in September – that one ray of sunshine in the last six months he was talking about – were real money-spinners.

He had fewer top 10s than Harrington, a worse stroke average and was not as many under par for the whole season, but cash is what counts.

Last year the gap between the two was more than €500,000, so at least Harrington can say he is getting much closer to his dream of being the circuit’s number one.

The Dubliner struck it rich with his only victory at the Dunhill links championship at St Andrews – it earned him over €600,000 – but there were some holes he would love to play again.

He bogeyed the last in the Open when a par would have put him in a play-off, he went in the water on the final hole of the European Open and was second to Michael Campbell and two weeks ago led the Madrid Open with a round to play, but fell to seventh and did not make up a penny on Goosen.

In an attempt to make up for that he went to the Italian Open while Goosen played in America, but despite a closing 63 that was his lowest round of the year sixth place still left him trailing.

The chance was still there at Valderrama, of course, but he got off to the worst possible start when he received a two-stroke penalty on the opening hole for repairing a pitch mark which he then realised was not on the green.

There was immediately the thought that it make all the difference in the year-long race, but even taking away the penalty would not have been enough.

Goosen joins an elite club who have retained the Order of Merit – Colin Montgomerie, Lyle, Severiano Ballesteros, Peter Oosterhuis, Christy O’Connor and, back in the 1940s, Charlie Ward.

Montgomerie, of course, won it seven years in a row from 1993 to 1999, a staggering feat which might never be equalled.

Even though he will be cutting back, Goosen thinks he can still make it three next season.

“Luckily the majors and the world championships count for both tours. Do well in those and you can be right up there.”