Goosen vaults thirteen shots clear

A sensational course-record nine-under 63 has propelled South African Retief Goosen 13 shots clear of his nearest rivals with one round remaining in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth.

After posting a 70 on Thursday and a 68 yesterday, the US Open champion hit top gear at Lake Karrinyup today, having only 25 putts to get to 15-under par overall.

Goosen made the most of a great start with a 32 outward nine before posting birdies on 11, 13, 14, 15 and the difficult 18th to come home in 63. While the remainder of the field struggled to make par today, Goosen seems to have the rich tournament at his mercy.

The 18th exemplified Goosen’s class, for while the next six players on the leaderboard had bogeys at the tough par-4, Goosen sunk his birdie putt to gain what would seem an unassailable lead.

Only four other players are under par for the tournament, the closest of those are Els and Garcia.

Garcia had a mixed day. Tee-to-green the Spaniard was beyond reproach, hitting 13 greens in regulation but his touch on the fast Lake Karrinyup putting surface deserted him.

After an even outward nine, he birdied the 11th before picking up another shot on the 15th. He then bogeyed 16 and 18 to finish even for the day and two-under for the tournament.

Els had played a steady round before he holed an eagle-chip at the par-5 11th. He subsequently dropped a shot on the next and like Garcia conceded another shot on the last.

At one-under are Englishmen Anthony Wall and Simon Dyson. Wall hit an outward 32 before going on to birdie the tenth. He faltered late in his round, however, to drop shots on his last two holes.

Wayne Riley has been the biggest mover from an Australian point of view also getting to even par with a three-under round of 69. He shares seventh place with Pierre Fulke, who had a steady round of 74.

While Goosen was setting course records his two playing partners struggled to make an impact. Yesterday’s low-scorer, Kiwi Steve Alker has dropped back to one over along with first round leader Thongchai Jaidee who slipped six shots today, despite a chip-in at the eighth.

The best two rounds outside of Goosen came from Englishmen Justin Rose and Nick Dougherty who both shot 68. Rose is at one-over while Dougherty dropped late shots to finish two-over with one round left.

Veteran Englishman Nick Faldo shot his second successive 73 to finish the day plus-one for the tournament while Craig Parry posted a handy 71 to move to two-over for the tournament.

Of those at the rear of the field only Dane Soren Kjeldsen and Australian Scott Gardiner broke 70, both shooting three-under.

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