Goosen Keeps His Cool And Vaults To The Head Of The Karrinyup Pack
The Age
Saturday January 26, 2002
PERTH
On a trying day that frazzled nerves and frayed tempers, it was left to the coolest player in the field, South African iceman Retief Goosen, to tame the Lake Karrinyup course and take a commanding lead near the end of the Johnnie Walker Classic second round.
Goosen had to contend with the worst of the conditions in the afternoon, when the Fremantle Doctor again wrought havoc.
But he kept his cool to be at eight-under par for the tournament with three holes to play - three shots ahead of his nearest challenger, overnight leader Thongchai Jaidee.
The reigning US Open champion was six under for the day, his card unblemished by a bogey, a remarkable feat given that the course was chewing up and spitting out most of the field.
Goosen has many admirable qualities - among them a golf swing of great beauty - but he is never going to set a room alight with wisecracks, quick-witted banter and an electric personality.
The South African has a pulse rate of about 25 when he is in a high state of excitement, and that drops to about 20 when he is feeling relaxed.
In short, he has the ideal temperament to tackle a course that his compatriot Ernie Els yesterday rated as among the more difficult he has played.
Indeed, the world No.5 said Lake Karrinyup was set up in a way that reminded him of the torture chambers presented for US Opens.
"It is like playing a major out there, really," Els said. ``It is like a US Open or a very difficult Masters. Some of these bunkers seem like they are almost in the fairways, so it is very difficult to keep the ball in play when you've got some breeze.
"To make it even worse, the greens are very firm. We are playing a very, very difficult golf course. But it is a very fair golf course, a great layout."
Els must be wondering why he bothers coming to this country and continually being subjected to such torture. In November, he turned up to the Grand in Queensland for the Australian Open and was put through the wringer as well, being buffeted by high winds and a tricked-up course.
After a 71 yesterday that left him at one under for the championship, Els is one of only seven players to be in red figures at the halfway mark of the championship.
The others are Goosen, Kiwi Steve Alker, Jaidee, Sweden's Pierre Fulke, Queensland's Craig Jones and ageless Englishman, Nick Faldo.
Alker, fresh from a second placing in his national championship a fortnight ago, kept up that good form by firing the best score of the tournament, a seven-under 65 - 10 shots better than his opening round.
Alker, who took only 24 putts, vaulted from 51st place overnight into a share of second.
"The difference between today and yesterday was purely holing some putts," said the man whose freakish short game has resulted in him being dubbed ``Seve" (Ballesteros) by his mates.
Alker's Scottish girlfriend, Tanya Whiffin, who he met on a skiing holiday in New Zealand, was carrying his bag again, as she did at Paraparaumu Beach, the pair celebrating each birdie with a kiss.
© 2002 The Age
