GOLF TOUR NEWS:TWICE US Open champion Retief Goosen held off Argentina's Masters champion Angel Cabrera and last year's winner Henrik Stenson to lead the Sun City Golf Challenge after the second round yesterday.
Goosen shot a four-under-par 68 to go to seven under overall with Cabrera, Stenson and Robert Allenby in a tie for second place on six under.
South African Goosen, who began the day a stroke behind overnight leader Allenby, made a fine start to his round with three birdies in his first four holes. But a misfiring putter led to a three-putt bogey on the par-four eighth and he also gave a stroke away to the field on the short 12th.
Another birdie on the par-four 15th and three straight pars to finish were enough to secure a narrow lead for the 2004 champion.
Cabrera produced a top-class round of 67 to climb the leaderboard, including a superb front nine of 32 and four birdies in five holes around the turn.
Allenby, who claimed the first-round lead with a 68, took a while to get going on the second day, parring the first nine holes.
The Australian then birdied the 10th, 12th and 14th holes, before a bogey at the 15th dropped him back into a share of second.
Stenson also went out in 32 but then went off the boil on the back nine, coming home in level-par 36.
American Hunter Mahan and South African Tim Clark are trailing the second-placed trio by three strokes. Northern Ireland’s world number 10, Rory McIlroy, battling an intestinal problem, is propping up the field after a 76 yesterday pushed him to five over par overall.
“It’s not a bad place to be because it’s tough out there,” said Goosen. “It was very, very hot, especially on the back nine, and the wind is also a problem. It’s very tricky, blowing through the valleys, and it’s not easy to judge. The course is drying out, so it will become tougher.”
McIlroy carded two double-bogey sixes on the front nine and also had five bogeys. “I’m not feeling too great. I think I’m a bit run down and felt that I’d got ‘jelly legs’, so I’ve retired to my room with various potions from the doctor to try and shake it off,” he said.
