Retief Goosen Swing Vision

I guess this post is a little ironic - swing vision of someone having trouble with their vision, but I thought that it might be of interest. Retief certainly has an awesome swing and he will be missed from the Qatar Masters as he tries to overcome this vision problem. Enjoy.

Goosen withdraws with vision problems

The title may be a little misleading, Goosen doesn't have a lack of drive, goals or vision, but a problem with his eyes after corrective laser surgery:

Retief Goosen's hopes of becoming the first golfer to win the European Tour's Qatar Masters on two occasions were wrecked on Wednesday when he was forced to withdraw with vision problems.

The South African came to Doha after undergoing corrective laser surgery ten days ago but during practice on Tuesday, his vision in one eye began to blur. He immediately travelled to Dubai for further treatment and was hopeful of playing the event even on Tuesdy night. However, he announced his withdrawal Wednesday morning, saying he was still having problems with his vision.

Goosen said: "I am obviously very sad that I am unable to defend my title. I came all this way to play but unfortunately the eye is causing a problem.

"I thought it would come good but it hasn't. I went to Dubai yesterday and the advice was to go back to London for treatment.

"It is a shame as I love this event, love this course and I can't remember the last time I pulled out of a tournament."

The absence of Goosen, twice a winner of the US Open, is a body blow for a tournament that has grown in stature over the last few years and taken its central role in what has become known as the "Desert Swing" which includes the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic.

Goosen joins fellow South African Ernie Els on the sidelines following the latter's decision to skip Doha this year and play instead in the Indian Masters...

Read the complete golf news story

Golf Poll: Which South African will have the best finish this weekend

Who will be the top placed South African this weekend Ernie Els Rory Sabbatini Retief Goosen Charl Schwartzel Trevor Immelman view results

Nedbank Golf Challenge - Preview

The Nedbank Golf Challenge is a popular tournament in South Africa played over the Gary Player Country Club Course in Sun City. The tournament is a twelve man invitational stroke play event.

This years tournament features:

Player	Country	Comments
Jim Furyk	United States	Withdrawn due to recent injury
Ernie Els	South Africa
Adam Scott	Australia
Pádraig Harrington	Ireland
Rory Sabbatini	South Africa
Sergio García	Spain	Withdrawn due to personal reasons
Justin Rose	England
Geoff Ogilvy	Australia
Luke Donald	England
Henrik Stenson	Sweden
Retief Goosen	South Africa
Charl Schwartzel	South Africa
Trevor Immelman	South Africa	Late entrant (replaces García)
Niclas Fasth	Sweden	Late entrant (replaces Furyk)

My Thoughts
As this is a South African tournament I think the locals have the best chance of taking out the tournament. I will be watching out for Ernie Els (who has won 3 times), Rory Sabbatini, Retief Goosen. My outside tip is Trevor Immelman who has replaced Garcia in the tournament.

HSBC World Match Play Championship

This is another of my favourite European Tour golf tournaments, maybe I just like it when things are a little different or something. For those new to the game match play this little snipet from wikipedia.org might help explain things better:

Unlike stroke play, in which the unit of scoring is the stroke, in match play the unit of scoring is the hole. On each hole, the most that can be gained is one point. Golfers play as normal. The golfer with the lowest score on a given hole receives one point. If the golfers tie, then the hole is halved.

Match play scores of a game in progress are kept with a running tally. At the start of a match, the score is "all square" or tied. The score is then recorded in terms of one player's lead over another player. For example, if Player A has won 3 holes, Player B has won 1 hole and they have halved 2 (or any number of) holes, Player A is said to be leading, "2-up" (3 holes won minus 1 hole lost).

These are the results from the first round (source www.europeantour.com):

Match : 1 Paul Casey v Jerry Kelly Paul Casey won 3 & 2 Match : 2 Retief Goosen v Angel Cabrera Angel Cabrera won 6 & 5 Match : 3 Justin Rose v Hunter Mahan Hunter Mahan won 5 & 4 Match : 4 Rory Sabbatini v Søren Hansen Søren Hansen won 4 & 3 Match : 5 Padraig Harrington v Anders Hansen Anders Hansen won 4 & 2 Match : 6 Henrik Stenson v Woody Austin Henrik Stenson won by 1 Hole Match : 7 Niclas Fasth v Andres Romero Andres Romero won 3 & 2 Match : 8 Ernie Els v Colin Montgomerie Ernie Els won 6 & 5

For me the most interesting results were Ernie Els thrashing Colin Montgomerie and Angel Cabrera also thrashing Retief Goosen, who I rate as a very good player. I also liked the look of Andres Romero and after his British Open heroics could be one of the players to watch next year!

In the Quarter finals we have:
Paul Casey V Angel Cabrera
Hunter Mahan V Søren Hansen
Anders Hansen V Henrik Stenson
Andres Romero V Ernie Els

I think the match to watch out for will be Romero and Els both coming off impressive performances yesterday!