Retief Goosen and Ernie Els all set to lock horns for the coveted South African Open title
Two of the renowned South African golfers Retief Goosen and World Hall of Famer Ernie Els will be wrestling their way up in the latest European Tour event, the South African Open (SA Open), scheduled at the scenic Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate. The
€1million even is the second of the last European Tour events before the winner of the Race to Dubai Points table will be decided which is most likely to be the current world number Luke Donald.
Goosen has won the coveted title twice in his career in 1995 and 2005 alongside nine Sunshine Tour events in his career.
“The South African Open has always been one of my favourite tournaments and I’m delighted to be coming back,” said Goosen. “When I won in 1995, I was 26 and it was one of the proudest moments of my career. There is something indescribable about winning your
national Open. That second win was just as sweet. It felt great winning again on home soil and having the SA Open trophy in my hands again.”
Goosen, winner of two major events both US Open titles in 2001 and 2004, will be facing a stiff challenge from the young guns of the tour. George Coetzee, in search of his maiden tour victory, has done well in the past few months and ranks within the top-100
on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
“The greens will definitely sort out the boys from the men,” said South African Coetzee.
Also on the field is the rising European Tour player Simon Dyson who has won twice this year on the tour. The Englishman won the Irish Open in July and went over to post his second victory on the tour at the KLM Open in September. He will be hoping to lift
the SA Open cup to become the only Englishman to do it after Tommy Horton in 1970.
Some of the struggling players on the tour including Welshman Stephen Dodd (122nd), England’s John Parry (126th) and Nick Dougherty (281st), Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl (157th) and Swede Oskar Henningsson (175th) will be hoping to pull in a strong finish this
week at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate in order to avoid an imminent return to the Qualifying School.
This is the first time the SA Open is scheduled at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate, close to the famous Masai Mara territory. The Jack Nicklaus designed course was opened in 2009 and boosts of world class facility in the heart of Africa. The greens
of the course are considered one of the most difficult and will provide a stern test to the aspiring players at the field.
The first round of the event is currently underway with most of the players working for their front nines in the morning.
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