Retief Goosen, the 2001 US Open Champion and winner of the BellSouth Classic earlier this year, accelerated his bid for a third title on US soil when he tied for the lead after the first round of the World Golf Championships – NEC Invitational at Sahalee Country Club.
Goosen, currently second on the Volvo Order of Merit, took centre stage on a day when European Tour Members made an impressive showing in the $5,500,000 tournament with Darren Clarke and Justin Rose both right in contention.
South African Goosen fired a six under par 65 to tie Japan’s Toshi Izawa while Clarke was one of three players on 66 and Rose – out in the first group of the day – one of a trio on 67.
Four years ago at Sahalee Goosen missed the cut in the US PGA Championship. This time around his course management was flawless as he gathered four birdies and an eagle in his 65.
“I’ve been playing well for the last few months but not putting well. It’s been frutrating over the summer because to win a tournament it’s usually down to the guy who putts best.
“I didn’t feel as if I had to work too hard for it. I knew I could probably have gone lower. I tried to work something out today and seemed to stroke it a little better.”
Clarke, the only European golfer to date to win one of the World Golf Championships events, began with four straight birdies after adopting a new attitude and slipping a new driver in his bag.
Bogeys at the eighth and ninth slower his momentum but Clarke finished off his round strongly with a pair of birdies. He said: “Obviously I made a good start and had a couple of poor holes after that but got it back with a good finish.”
Clarke was struggling with a damaged big toe on his left foot after dropping his suitcase on it last weekend, causing half the nail to break off. He said with a wince: “It’s throbbing. I saw the doctor and he told me to take the plaster off but I don’t even like looking at it at the moment!”
The Ulsterman shares third place with Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson while Rose is tied sixth on the same mark as Americans Steve Lowery and Kenny Perry. Rose started and finished with birdies, the last helping him to an inward 32.
“I was happy to turn in level par” he said. “I knew it was the tougher nine and that I had to stay patient and wait to see what would happen. It’s good to be on the leaderboard straight away. It gets the adrenaline flowing. Now it’s just a case of trying to press on hard and fast really.”
A total of 11 players came next on 68, three under par, including four European Tour Members in Thomas Björn, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood. Garcia was agitated by his inconsistent play but Westwood drew encouragement from his opening round after several months of frustration.
“Nobody likes to play poorly” he said. “You want to take at least a decent game into the Ryder Cup and hopefully by the time it comes around my game will be in good shape.
“I’ve struggled to put anything together. Today I didn’t throw away shots from the tee. I kept it nice and straight and in the fairway most of the time. You just have to concentrate on your own game and getting it on track and the other things take care of themselves.”
Two other Ryder Cup players, Pierre Fulke (69) and Bernhard Langer (70) broke par while Colin Montgomerie shot a level par 71 and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington – still suffering discomfort from a neck injury – on 72.
