/ 23 March 2009

Goosen wins in Tampa Bay

Retief Goosen held on to win the Tampa Bay Championship by a single stroke from Americans Brett Quigley and Charles Howell III on Sunday.

Goosen, who had not won on the PGA Tour since 2005, shot a one-under round of 70 to finish eight-under for the week.

The 40-year-old had a nervy round, starting with a bogey on the par-four second before a birdie on the ninth ensured he finished his front nine on even-par.

The decisive hole proved to the par-five 11th, where Goosen sunk a 17 foot putt to eagle the hole.

A bogey on the par four 16th — where Goosen hooked to the left rough, then found the greenside bunker before two-putting, kept the tension going until the end.

The South African needed to sink his final putt, from nearly five feet, to avoid going into a play-off with Quigley and Howell and he kept his cool to end his winless spell in the US.

”Eventually you wonder if you can still do it,” he told reporters.

”I did win in Malaysia in November, and I won in South Africa in January. So at least I’ve won some events in the last few months.

”Although they are not big events, I’ve beat some good players,” he added.

”You can just keep trying. It’s great to be able to be in that position and to actually pull it off. It was great to see that last one roll in.”

Late run
Howell produced a late run with three birdies in four holes between the 11th and the 14th but then undid his good work with bogeys on the 15th and 16th.

”The golf course was unbelievably difficult,” said Howell. ”I can’t think of the last time I’ve seen a course change more from Thursday and Friday to Saturday and Sunday that wasn’t a major.”

Quigley, who also lost by a shot in last week’s Puerto Rico Open, put himself in contention after birdies on the 13th and 14th but he chose not to watch Goosen’s final putt.

”When I saw that he bogeyed the 16th, I was in the scoring tent and then I didn’t watch,” he said.

”It’s funny, I watched last week and Michael Bradley made a birdie to win. So this week I decided against watching and it was still the same outcome.”

There was disappointment for 50-year-old American Tom Lehman, the overnight leader, who started the round in the hunt for his first PGA Tour win in nine years but ended up four over.

Lehman had three bogeys on the front nine and then made a hash of the 16th where he double-bogeyed after driving his tee shot into the water. – Reuters