On the PGA Tour this weekend, Retief Goosen trudged through 36 holes to edge Brandt Jobe by a single point at The International, earning his sixth PGA Tour win and his 23rd as a professional. Jobe, who at one point had a nine-point lead, fell apart in the middle of his second 18 holes and let nearly everyone back into the tournament. For awhile, Charles Howell III and Phil Mickelson even had a shot. Jobe left a 25-foot birdie putt short on the last to win. Yes, you read that correctly: he left the winning putt short.
On the Nationwide Tour, U.S. Open fan favorite Jason Gore captured his third straight victory and his seventh on the Nationwide Tour after firing a 59 in his second round on Saturday. His third win promotes him to the PGA Tour via the “Battlefield Exemption” rule, and we look forward to seeing the big guy playing with The Big Guys real soon. Jason put a wedge to five feet on the second playoff hole from the rough and after his opponent, Roger Tambellini, put a shot to eight feet. Roger missed, Jason made, and the rest, as they say, was history.
In watching The International, it became interesting to see how poorly some PGA Tour players can play when they’re in a unique position. Retief Goosen tried to hit some partial shots and really hit some stinkers before switching to a “hit everything hard” mode on the final stretch. Brandt Jobe, playing 36 holes and with the lead, fell apart, only surging late when he appeared to have no hope of turning things around. Lots of shots went left, indicating fatigue on the part of the players – slow hip and leg action = shots go left. Remember that, folks.
Charles Howell III had a chance to win by finishing eagle-birdie, but he managed to put his 7-iron approach to the par-five 17th to, oh, a mile and a half from the hole. Howell, who only manages to play well when there is no pressure (such as in the first two rounds and when he appeared out of it in the final round), lagged his eagle putt to tap-in range and then made a mess of the 18th to finish in fifth place, two points ahead of defending champ Rod Pampling.
Goosen’s win makes him the last of the “Tiger and the Other Four” fivesome to get into the win column (though of course his countryman, the fallen Ernie Els, didn’t win a PGA Tour event this year). Goosen wins $900,000.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Retief Goosen 32 7 10 8 7 2 Brandt Jobe 31 13 9 12 -3 3 Jeff Brehaut 29 7 6 6 10 4 Hank Kuehne 27 3 8 6 10 5 Charles Howell III 26 12 10 -4 8 T6 Joey Snyder III 24 -1 13 8 4 T6 Rod Pampling 24 5 7 3 9 T6 Tim Clark 24 4 6 6 8 T6 Tim Petrovic 24 11 4 8 1 T10 Scott McCarron 23 5 5 13 0 T10 Phil Mickelson 23 3 14 -3 9 T12 Paul Gow 22 6 4 7 5 T12 Steve Flesch 22 1 8 12 1 T12 Stewart Cink 22 9 8 3 2 T15 Carl Pettersson 21 6 4 9 2 T15 Jonathan Byrd 21 10 2 5 4 T15 Craig Barlow 21 6 4 12 -1 T15 Mike Weir 21 7 6 2 6 T15 Ryan Palmer 21 5 3 8 5 T15 Daniel Chopra 21 10 6 4 1 T15 Olin Browne 21 4 3 8 6 T15 Billy Mayfair 21 15 7 0 -1
6 thoughts on “Gore and Goosen”