Retief Goosen of South Africa retained the European Order of Merit title Sunday — the European money title — after shooting a final round of level-par 71 in the Volvo Masters at Valderrama.
Goosen finished the tournament with a 12-over-par total of 296 to comfortably hold off the challenge of Ireland’s Padraig Harrington. The Irishman needed to beat the South African by several strokes in the tournament to have any chance of passing him on the season money list.
Goosen finished tied for 34th and Harrington tied for 36th. Goosen won 2 360 128 euros ($2 397 418) for the season.
Harrington finished with 2 334 655 euros ($2 371 543).
With most eyes focused on who would win the money title in the season’s final event, Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer were joint winners of the tournament. They remained deadlocked after two
sudden-death playoff holes as darkness prevented further play.
Langer shot 67 and Montgomerie 70 in the final round for totals of 3-under 281. They halved the two playoff holes, the 18th and the 10th, in par.
It was the first victory of the year for both players, partners during Europe’s Ryder Cup success in September.
”Colin and I both played great and it seems somewhat fitting that we share first place here,” Langer said. ”We both deserved to win but Mother Nature wouldn’t allow us to continue.”
Montgomerie said: ”I’d like to say it’s very fitting this tournament should be tied and especially the two people that have tied it.”
In the Harrington vs. Goosen battle, the Irishman led Goosen for most of the day, but bogeys at the last two holes left him with a 73. He finished one stroke behind Goosen in the tournament.
Goosen, the 2001 US Open champion, said he felt great about retaining the Order of Merit title but was disappointed ”with how we both played the last two weeks.”
”Especially me, I haven’t really played any good the last six months except for the American Express Tournament when I finished second,” Goosen said.
”We both struggled with our games here. It’s disappointing that neither of us got our games going so that we could have had a little bit more of a real contest.”
”But you’ve got to play well for a year to defend this title so it’s great to pull it off.”
Goosen took a strong position in the race for the money title during three successive weeks in January when he finished tied for fifth in the South African Open, tied for second in the Dunhill Championship and then won the Johnnie Walker Classic at Lake Karrinyup in Perth, Australia.
But he said his second place finishes in the Masters in April and the Amex World Championship in Ireland in September were the keys to his achievement.
The South African (33) said he planned to play a less next year, due in part to the expected birth of his first child in mid-March.
”I’ll probably take all of March off, but I’d hope to be back for the Players Championship at Sawgrass,” he said.
”I’ve played a lot of golf for four years, 33 or 34 events this year, and I plan to take it easier the next two years,” Goosen added, saying he hoped to cut down on his trans-Atlantic flights.
Harrington was disappointed to come up short but pleased that Goosen had played well on the last day.
”That’s the way to win it,” he said.
The Irishman (31) said he was better for the experience, which was unlike the pressure of a normal tournament.
”The last few weeks it was a different sort of tournament I was playing and it was certainly interesting, something I had never experienced before,” he said.
He said the race, which he only joined by winning the Dunhill Links title early in October, had strengthened his resolve to win the Order of Merit title, though not necessarily next year.
”You can’t say you’re going to win it next year. I could play brilliantly and someone else might play even better.”
He said improving his game was a higher priority.
”There’s no part of my game that I physically can’t improve. I’m here at this stage and yet I can improve leaps and bounds in all areas of my game.” – Sapa-AP