It took an Asian Tour fling for South African Retief Goosen to end a 21-month run without a title to his name.
The two-time US Open champion came good on the final round to shoot a six-under-par 66 and register a two-stroke victory at the Iskandar Johor Open in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.
Goosen was the big-name replacement for Fijian Vijay Singh, who was looking forward to competing at the Royal Johor course where he developed his game but was eventually forced to withdraw through injury.
The South African took full advantage of his invitation to win the tournament on 12-under 276, two ahead of Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant and three in front of third-placed Australian Kane Webber, who finished on 279.
Goosen was four shots behind the leaders after the third round but his bogey-free final-day effort enabled him to leapfrog his rivals and claim the title.
It was Goosen’s first win since the Qatar Masters in early 2007, in addition to his 29th international triumph and fourth Asian Tour victory. He said in an Asian Tour press release:
“It means a lot. It’s been a drought. Coming down the stretch, you haven’t won for a while, so it’s nice to finish it off with some good shots and I got the job done. It’s great to win again. It’s been a tiring week walking these hills but it was well worth it.â€
On the US PGA Tour, Ryan Palmer overcame a penalty stroke that he had called on himself to win the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Palm Coast, Florida.
He called the penalty in the ninth hole and then bogeyed the 10 before holing a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to emerge from a six-way tie and take the first prize.
It was his second tour victory as he scored 71 in the final round for a total of seven-under 281. That was one stroke ahead of a pack of five golfers – George McNeill, Nicholas Thompson, Vaughn Taylor, Ken Duke and Michael Letzig.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen became the final winner of the Volvo Masters when he scored a two-stroke victory at Valderamma.
Kjeldsen shot a 71 for a eight-under-par total of 276. That was good enough for first place, two strokes ahead of Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who closed with 68.
Robert Karlsson finished joint 32nd but that was good enough to make him the first Swede to win the European Order of Merit – and the last player to do so with the European Tour set to be revamped next season.
