Defending South African Airways (SAA) Open champion Retief Goosen was three strokes clear of the field with two holes of his first round to play before an 11 on the 17th saw him finish two behind the leaders at Humewood Golf Club on Thursday.
Goosen had eagled the 15th and birdied the 16th for a three-stroke lead before the disaster of the par-five 17th, which dropped him to three-under par, with Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Andrew Raitt and Carl Suneson all tied for the lead on five under.
Patrik Sjoland, Lee Westwood and Des Terblanche are one behind on four under.
Goosen’s woes began with two tee shots hit into the bushes on 17.
He found his second but had to take an unplayable drop, which he did and went on to card what first went up as a nine.
But several calls from viewers of the television broadcast alerted European Tour senior referee Andy McFee to the fact that Goosen had infringed a rule on the hole.
”Retief took an unplayable ball drop on 17 so he got two club lengths from where the ball lay and he had to drop within those two, which he did,” McFee explained. ”The ball then rolled outside the two club lengths. He thought he had to re-drop. But you only do so if it rolls more than two club lengths from where it strikes the ground.
”His ball didn’t do that, and it also didn’t roll nearer the hole so his ball was in play. As soon as he picked it up to re-drop, he incurred a one-stroke penalty. If he replaced it on the exact spot from where he lifted it, it would’ve stayed a one-stroke penalty. But because he didn’t replace it, it became a two-stroke penalty and the nine became an 11.”
McFee managed to inform Goosen of this before he signed his card, and said Goosen immediately realised his mistake.
”As soon as I started talking to him about it in the score-recording area there was a dawn of realisation on his face and he said, ”Yes, got it”. He realised he’d made a mental error. He knew that rule; it just escaped him at the time.”
It was a dramatic end to a round that Goosen dominated from the first hole when he opened with a birdie.
Els, Immelman and Suneson had already set the mark at five under with their 67s in the windy morning conditions, and Raitt matched that in the afternoon.
Goosen went on to claim the sole lead at six under with a further three birdies and an eagle through 12 holes.
A bogey at the difficult par-four 13th, where he hit his second left of the green, drew him back into a tie for the lead.
But he eagled the par-five 15th and then birdied the 16th after a superb bunker shot to within inches of the hole for a three-stroke lead on eight under before the collapse at 17.
Els was delighted with his start to the championship.
His 67 was his first in six rounds and was built on a run of two birdies and an eagle in three holes on his second nine.
”Before that I wasn’t playing great and wasn’t sharp enough,” he said. ”Those three holes really made the change in the round. I would’ve taken one-under par but played those holes well and got a bonus out of it.”
Immelman was also satisfied with his position after an opening day that featured an early start for him.
”I haven’t had a 4.45am wake-up call in a while other than to feed my son. It was tough getting out of bed and I really just wanted to hang in there and shoot a solid score.
”Anytime you shoot 67 here you’ve got to be pleased,” said Immelman, who had the benefit of some local knowledge.
”I was very fortunate in the Pro-Am round in that an elderly gentleman who has been a member here since 1964 walked the whole course with me. He gave me a lot of insight into the course and the winds.” — Sapa