Goosen targets US glory

The European Tour will not see its 2001 and 2002 Order of Merit winner Retief Goosen playing on the continent much this year, as he has decided to concentrate on playing on the US PGA Tour in 2004.

Goosen, the 2001 US Open champion and a regular on the European Tour, made the announcement that he was cutting any Australian and Asian events from his calendar so that he can concentrate on doing well in the US.

But at the same time, he told journalists here at the Nedbank Challenge after moving into a tie for fourth place at seven under with a 67, that he would also not be spending much time in Europe.

Goosen, who is South Africa’s main hope in their showpiece event after defending champion Ernie Els crashed to a 75 and 14 shots off the pace, said he felt the strain of travelling and was looking forward to a break in the Northern Province bushveld next weekend.

“Yes, I am tired,” he admitted. “I was very close to not playing this week, but at the last minute I was persuaded to play.

“It has been a long couple of months and I have played a lot, so I am looking forward to the month holiday coming up at the end of this week.”

He added that his plan was to try and play in both the US and Europe in 2004, but favouring the PGA Tour over the continental counterpart.

He said: “I will probably play a lot more in America and I won’t be going over to Australia or play any other events across the world.

“I start off with two tournaments in Hawaii and have a week off and then play Phoenix and have another week off before starting the run to Augusta.”

Goosen starts the day four off the place of leader American Kenny Perry, but showed that while he has never been spectacular at this event, this year may be a turnaround for him.

Other than the leaders, where Spaniard Sergio Garcia was the danger man with a blistering 66, the rest of the field had a pretty ordinary time in the sweltering conditions.

Ulsterman Darren Clarke started off well, but sunk back late in the day to end on a disappointing 71, three behind the leaders.

But, while his putting was not always up to standard, his approach shots showed that there is a lot of fight left in Clarke to give him a chance this weekend.

While the course was kind to some, others felt the wrath of the high grass bordering the greens.

Australians Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott and Robert Allenby found the going equally tough as they negated their first round scores with efforts of 75, 74 and 78 respectively to drop down the leaderboard.

Yet the focus of worry around the course was still on Els, who looked far from the defending champion who dominated this tournament to shoot a lacklustre 75 and sit three over, alone at the bottom of the leaderboard and far from his coveted title.