Goosen goes two clear in Vegas

Home

bruced
February 22, 2015

Retief Goosen continued to set the pace at the Northern Trust Open opening up a two shot lead heading into the final round.

The South African has been top of the leaderboard from the first day and is now two shots clear of the field after carding a 69 in the third round at the Riviera Country Club on Saturday.

Goosen, 46, did not have it all his way as he had four bogeys on his back-nine with birdies on the 16th and 17 helping to ensure he has a good chance of winning his first title in five years.

“This would be an awesome win,” Goosen told the PGA Tour website.

“It’s been awhile since I had a chance to win. Yeah, this would … feel like a U.S. Open, a third U.S. Open, for me winning this week. I’m going to give it my all tomorrow and fight hard and we’ll see what happens.”

The world number 220 looked to be cruising after picking up three shots on a faultless front nine, but after that he was pushed to the brink, hitting tree shots on the 12th and 13th holes for bogeys as well as dropping shots at 10 and 15.

“It wasn’t easy out there for me,” Goosen added.

“Mentally, I had to work hard to try and stay positive and focused. But I’m still in the lead, so that’s a good place to be. Just try and play solid tomorrow and keep the putter warm and see what happens.”

Graham DeLaet of Canada is two-shots off the pace on six-under-par while Spaniard Sergio Garcia is part of a four-strong group three shots off the pace.

Englishman Paul Casey dropped two shots further behind Goosen to sit five off the pace on three under after carding a disappointing par-71 round, which included a double-bogey on the eighth hole.