Goosen to miss Loch Lomond

For very different reasons Retief Goosen and Jesper Parnevik have both pulled out of this week’s Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Goosen is saving himself for next week's British Open at Royal Troon, where he will be trying to make it an incredible three victories in a row after he yesterday added the European Open to the United States Open title he grabbed two weeks ago.

Parnevik, on the other hand, has a shoulder injury and his no-show this week means he will also not be there at Troon next week to play on a course where he finished joint second in the 1997 Open, having led with a round to go.

The Swede failed to qualify for the championship by finishing only 20th in Dublin yesterday and, although there is another place on offer at Loch Lomond, he feels his health has to come first.

It is a bitter blow not just because he misses an event he loves so much, but also because it denies him a chance to press his claims for a fourth Ryder Cup cap.

In fact, having just rejoined the European Tour to become eligible, there is a real possibility he may not be able to fulfil the 11-event commitment now.

“It is going to be tough and we will just have to see what happens,” he said.

He hopes to return either at the Irish Open or Scandinavian Masters, but feels he will have to show form in the last few weeks of the qualifying race just to be considered for a wildcard by captain Bernhard Langer now.

The 39-year-old has been on painkillers since the problem with his rotator cuff started when he tried – and failed – to qualify for the United States Open last month.

“I talked to the fitness guys and while they could not be sure without seeing an X-ray they said the two weeks’ rest I took was not enough. I had the same thing seven years ago, rested for a few weeks and was fine.

“I could keep taking pills, but I don’t like doing that and didn’t want to ruin myself for the PGA or the NEC World Championship next month.

“It does not bother me badly on the course, but at night it is so sore I get a little bit worried that I am making it worse.

“Of course it is disappointing and I don’t even know if I can watch the Open on television.”

Parnevik also had a great chance to win the Open at Turnberry in 1994. He stood on the final tee three ahead, but was not looking at leaderboards and in trying for a closing birdie he bogeyed instead and behind him Nick Price finished birdie-eagle-par to win by one.

“I love that kind of golf, but I can’t complain – I have not made the world’s top 50. A triple bogey at the 17th in the final round of the Colonial tournament cost me. Maybe I was not supposed to go.”

Goosen’s odds for Royal Troon will have come down even further after his brilliant five-stroke victory over Lee Westwood, Richard Green and Peter O’Malley at the testing K Club’s Smurfit Course.

After putting his clubs away for nine days following his second major win these were Goosen’s words last Wednesday: “It has been a bit of a manic time, I am a bit tired, I don’t think I am quite ready to play. Perhaps I should have taken another week off to get ready for Loch Lomond.

“We are playing a new course we have not seen as well, but we will see how it goes.”

Well, how it went was that, despite claiming he felt “brain dead” at the start, he opened with a birdie and never really looked back.

He finished 13 under par and left the rest to battle it out for second. Westwood could have had it on his own if he had holed a nine-foot birdie putt on the last.

He lies sixth in the table, just ahead of Paul Casey, while Ian Poulter’s missed cut resulted in him slipping out of an automatic top-10 spot.

There is still a star-studded field this week, headed by Masters champion Phil Mickelson, world number two Ernie Els and Open champion Ben Curtis.