Goosen drops himself into trouble

South African Retief Goosen racked up an 11 on the 17th hole of his opening round of the SAA Open at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth after incurring a two-stroke penalty.

Goosen, who was leading by three shots, twice hit his ball into unplayable areas and after the second occasion he took a drop within two club lengths of where his ball had finished.

However, having dropped the ball it rolled backwards a few centimetres so the world number five picked it up and dropped again.

He finished with a quadruple-bogey nine on the par five but worse was to follow when, after his round, officials ruled that because the ball landed within two club lengths it was in play and Goosen should not have picked it up again.

“By picking the ball up, he needed to replace it to incur only a one-shot penalty. But by dropping it, it became two shots,” European Tour official Andy McFee said.

Goosen birdied the 18th to finish with a 69 – after the penalty which credited him with an 11 on the 17th.