Goosen rues absence of top names
Retief Goosen begins his bid for the richest prize in golf at Wentworth disappointed the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson turned down invitations to the HSBC World Match Play Championship.
It is Goosen, the world number five, who heads the field for the event which offers a top prize of £1m (€1.5m).
He is the only member of the world’s top 12 entered, as America’s finest, and the rest of the PGA Tour elite, remain Stateside.
Mickelson and Vijay Singh will play in the 84 Lumber Classic, while Woods is taking a brief break from the game.
Goosen simply believes they and others are so familiar with competing for massive purses in the United States that there is little attraction in travelling to Europe.
“Tiger, Phil and Vijay Singh obviously have their own reasons. I think it comes down to the money for them,” said South Africa’s two-time US Open champion.
“Obviously they live over there and their families are over there and they are playing for a lot of prize-money every week.
“I feel that’s probably the main reason for them not travelling. If the European Tour had the same prize money as theirs, they would play.”
Ernie Els is another missing this weekend, but he would have been in the 12-player field had it not been necessary for him to undergo knee surgery.
“It just seems to work out better for our schedule, me and Ernie living over here,” said Goosen.
“It seems to be pretty easy to fly 10 hours so we’ll keep on supporting those events in the Far East, Australia, South Africa and all over.”
Like Els, a six-time winner of the event, Goosen lives close to the Surrey course.
Before setting off for today’s first-round match against England’s Kenneth Ferrie, Goosen said: “It’s a shame Ernie’s not here – but he’ll be back.”
Goosen believes putting will be crucial in the one-on-one clashes and he is happy with his form on the greens.
“I’ve been hitting the ball okay but I’ve putted really well. Hopefully I can continue putting and chipping well, which you need to do in match play,” he added.
“Obviously in match play you can shoot level par and win or shoot 10 under and lose, so it’s really how the guy you’re playing against performs on that day.”
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