Goosen's golfing rise, against the odds

He has had to overcome being struck by lightning as an amateur in his native South Africa, a broken left arm in a skiing accident two years ago and a clutch of nervy finishes in various tournaments around the world.

Retief Goosen, 32, was forced to negotiate all these obstacles before winning his first major, this year's U.S. Open at Southern Hills, and then going on to secure the European Tour's order of merit title for 2001.

Yet, despite these setbacks and his impressive ability to bounce back in his shy and unassuming style, the smooth-swinging Goosen has still not managed to satisfy everyone.

His close friends, and world number five Ernie Els in particular, would probably argue they are surprised his recent successes have not come much earlier in his career.

The Goose, as he is affectionately known on tour, has always been blessed with an easy swing and abundant natural talent yet, after nine full years on the European Tour, he has 'only' won six titles.

His critics would point to his iffy record when in tournament contention down the stretch, and especially over the last couple of holes.

He dropped shots at the 71st and 72nd before winning the U.S. Open after a playoff with Mark Brooks in June and then did exactly the same thing before winning the Scottish Open by three strokes in July.

THROWN AWAY

Last month, he threw away the Lancome Trophy when he lost by a single shot to Spaniard Sergio Garcia, having produced a faltering bogey-bogey finish.

Yet Goosen is well aware of this frailty and, while he could point to the fact that he still won two of the three events in question, he would prefer to dwell on his improved focus while out on the course.

Following his play-off victory against England's Steve Webster in the Madrid Open on Sunday, the likeable South African paid tribute to Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout -- just as he had done after triumphing in the U.S. Open.

"I used to be so negative on the course and I tended to drag too many bad things along," he said.

"But, over the last few years, I've started to believe in myself more. When I broke my arm skiing at the start of 1999, I had two months off and started seeing Jos.

"Now I have more positive thoughts than negative ones."

The one man in Madrid capable of stopping Goosen in his relentless advance on the mantle of European number one was Darren Clarke, the South African's close rival on the money list for most of the season.

SECOND PLACE

But the Northern Irishman eventually finished four shots off the pace and, for the third time in four years, he will probably have to settle for second place on the final European Tour order of merit.

In defeat, Clarke could only pay tribute to the quality of Goosen's play throughout the season.

"Retief has played consistently well all year. He won one of the most difficult majors to win and played superbly at Loch Lomond to win there as well," he said.

"He's just played well, week in week out, and has been the most consistent. Hopefully my time will come."

For Goosen, 2001 is almost certain to be a watershed year.

Before his U.S. Open triumph in June, he had never finished higher than 10th in any major championship, although he managed to end 1997 and 1999 an impressive seventh and fifth respectively on the European Tour's money list.

Ever since his days of amateur golf in South Africa, playing alongside the likes of Els, Goosen was regarded as one of his country's brightest prospects.

LIGHTNING BOLT

Although his amateur progress was halted for a while when he was struck by lightning while playing, leaving him with an irregular heartbeat and a few hearing problems, he bounced back to win the 1990 South African amateur championship.

He soon turned professional and, by the end of 1991, he was the Southern Africa Tour's rookie of the year.

In 1992, he won the European Tour qualifying school and he finished second in the Dubai Desert Classic in his first event in 1993.

Further landmarks along the way have been his victory in the 1995 South African Open, at the expense of the second-placed Els, his debut triumph in Europe at the 1996 Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge and a hat-trick of titles in France between 1997 and 2001.

Goosen now has tremendous self-belief, as confirmed this year by his wire-to-wire wins at the U.S. Open and Scottish Open within the space of a month, and he can now be expected to make an even greater impact on world golf.

"This is my 10th season and to be the best in Europe is unbelievable because there are some great players out there," he said, after climbing to a career-high 10th in the world.

"Obviously winning the order of merit was helped greatly by the U.S. Open title but it's been a dream year. And I feel as though the more mature I get, the better golf I will play.

Expect, therefore, Goosen's dream to run and run.