by Grant Winter , The Mercury

"I last played here about 10 or 12 years ago - I can't even remember what the tournament was called - but I loved the golf course," said the Goose on the driving range at Royal yesterday, where he was pounding balls, ever so sweetly, ahead of the start on Thursday of this e1.2-million event, co-sanctioned by the European and Sunshine Tours.

The tournament he was referring to - the FNB Players Championship - actually took place 15 years ago, in 1993, when Goosen was a young professional on the make, and finished tied for 30th behind winner Mark McNulty. Since then, of course, the man from Polokwane has become a superstar and a Major champion - two US Open titles among his 37 worldwide wins, and a world ranking once as high as No 3.

His game has gone a little downhill in the past few years, but certainly not to the extent that you would not regard him as the favourite this week - even with defending champion Richard Sterne, coming off consecutive wins in December in the Alfred Dunhill at Leopard Creek, and the South African Open at Pearl Valley, in the field.

"I hope I don't embarrass myself here," said modest Goose, a statement which belied the 300m drive he'd just ripped straight down the middle of the practice fairway. "You know, I've just been on holiday and I only played three tournaments in the last three months of last year."

What he fails to mention is that he won one of those events - the Iskandar Johor Open on the Asian Tour - and, but for a wayward putter, he might well have won the SA Open too.

Goosen, who turns 40 in February, was sensational from tee to green at Pearl Valley, but too many missed putts in the five-to-10-foot range cost him a chance of lifting the title for a third time.

"I had a lot of trouble |reading the greens, and when you miss a few putts you lose confidence and it kind of snowballs," said Goosen, who finished joint sixth on 276, albeit just two strokes off the pace.

Goosen has not played too often in South Africa in past seasons and is making his Joburg Open debut.

"Royal just suits my schedule this year," he said by way of explanation. And before this is dismissed as another way of saying he's being lured here with appearance money, tournament promoter Leon Plutsick quickly puts the record straight: "Retief isn't getting paid a single cent. He's playing purely out of his own accord and, obviously, his presence is a big plus for us."

This is the third staging of the Joburg Open and, unlike the FNB event 15 years ago, which was only held on Royal's better-known East course, this week the 210-strong field alternate between the East and the West for the first two rounds.

Besides Goosen and Sterne, who won here last year after a sudden-death play-off with Garth Mulroy and Sweden's Magnus A Carlsson, leading players teeing up this week include Thomas Aiken, David Frost, James Kingston, James Kamte, Louis Oosthuizen, Hennie Otto, Charl Schwartzel, Anders Hansen, of Sweden, and France's Raphael Jacquelin.

In a qualifier played on the West yesterday, with 85 players battling it out for 10 spots in the main draw, Andrew Wilson of Kyalami CC finished top on 66, with KZN's Bradley Davison second on 67 and Kevin Stone (Gardener Ross), Johan du Buisson (Kuils River) and P G van Zyl (Witbank) next best on 68. Nine players on 70 had to play off for the five remaining places, with Callie Swart, Cameron Johnston, Edrich Jansen , Ruan Botha and Ockie Strydom getting through.

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