RETIEF GOOSEN added further prestige to South African golf when he won the Peugeot French Open by four strokes at the National club, Paris yesterday.
Despite ending on a low note by taking seven at the 18th he had two closing rounds of 70 for a 17-under-par total of 271 to take the £100,000 top prize from England's fast-finishing Jamie Spence.
It was Goosen's second European Tour success, and followed hard on the heels of the second US Open triumph by his great friend and former schoolboy rival Ernie Els.
Darren Clarke was joint third on a 13-under total of 275 along with Martin Gates, Raymond Russell and Van Phillips, while Colin Montgomerie, hot favourite after his US Open heroics, was eleventh.
It was Clarke's sixth top 10 finish of the season, and it put him in buoyant mood for this week's Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen. He had final rounds of 67 and 69 to be eight under par for the day, securing nine birdies, and making only one mistake, when he went into the water at the second in his final round.
He then brilliantly limited the damage to just one stroke by hitting a 90 yards pitch from the dropping zone to within 12 feet of the hole, and sinking the putt for a bogey four.
He went on to birdie the fifth and seventh, and then came home in 34 with the aid of a two at the 11th, and a birdie four at the last where he got down in two putts from almost 30 yards.
The outstanding effort earned Clarke a prize of £28,490 sterling to take his winnings so far this year to over £231,000 and his Ryder Cup points total to a massive 410,000.
It was also a timely boost to his confidence as he attempts to become the first Irishman to win his national title since John O'Leary at Portmarnock 15 years ago.
"I can't wait to get there and start playing," said the big Ulsterman, echoing Colin Montgomerie's enthusiasm for his US Open attempt after his victory at Slaley Hall three weeks ago.
"I would like to get into contention against what is going to be a strong field and then see what happens. It would be fantastic to win it. I am playing well and hitting the ball solidly. I struck a lot of good iron shots but I could not buy a putt all day long. I could have been five shots better without asling for anything from the course.
Des Smyth also had plenty to be pleased about alter shooting 69-68 to take 15th position and win £8,460 sterling. Smyth had birdied the last hole of his second round to qualify for the final 36 holes on the exact one under par mark, thus ending a slump that had seen the former Ryder Cup golfer fail six times in seven starts.
As he was 65th in the Volvo PGA Championship, the only occasion on which he had played well enough to earn a cheque, he had slid outside the top 120 in the Volvo Ranking prior to the French event.
But his morning 69 in which he had recovered from three putts at the second to have four birdies, got him moving upwards, albeit at a slow pace at the tail of the field of 68 which had been split into two groups starting from the first and 10th tees.
"It took me four hours 45 minutes to get round" said Smyth. "I had to wait on every shot because of the pace of play."
Raymond Burns had rounds of 71 and 74 to finish 45th on a three-under-par 285 that earned him £3.420 sterling. Philip Walton was another who failed to improve on his overnight position, taking 73 in the morning, then 71 to end on 286 and take 47th place worth £2,940.
