Exhausted Goose turns down Tiger

A "dead beat" Retief Goosen has withdrawn from Tiger Woods's end-of-year tournament, the Williams World Challenge, in California next week.

However, South Africa's US Open champion will honour his commitment to play in the Sunshine Tour's Vodacom Players Championship, beginning at Royal Cape on Thursday.

"I've just played too much golf in the last month or two and I've run out of gas," said Goosen, who finished a disappointing eighth on 281 in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday.

He started well enough with a pair of 68s, but a third-round 74 blew away any chance of him winning the title on debut.

After a dream year, "Goose", who topped the European Tour Order of Merit, is in demand by tournament sponsors all over the world. He has been globe-trotting at a furious pace and four worldwide victories have come his way in 2002, including the World Cup with Ernie Els.

Goosen is stronger and fitter than most, but having to play week in and out on different continents has taken its toll.

"I'm dead beat, I'm finished," he admitted, "and that's probably why I played poorly for the last two days at Sun City. I just couldn't face a long trip to California and back on top of the Vodacom event this week."

He would have been the first South African to tee it up in Woods's event, which has a 16-man field and is run on similar lines to the Sun City event with a first prize of $1-million and $150 000 for last place.

But with earnings that equate to about R30-million this year, Goosen is certainly not in need of extra cash.

Royal Cape this week offers Els his last chance to win a title as an individual in 2001. With two second places and half-a-dozen thirds, he has come close often enough, though. The Challenge was no exception. Sergio Garcia chipped in for birdie at the first extra hole to snatch the title from Els after the pair had tied on 20-under-par 268.

Els, Goosen and Rory Sabbatini are the drawcards at Royal Cape with Trevor Immelman the defending champion.