Els and Goosen to play 2003 Johnnie Walker
IN: News | Australasian PGA | Johnnie Walker Classic (2003) | General | 06 Aug 2002
The 32-year-old has an impressive history in the majors winning the US Open in 1994 and 1997 as well as the 2002 Open Championship. He also finished runner-up in three of the four major championships in 2000. After a top four finish in the 2002 Johnnie Walker Classic, Els will be aiming to win his second Johnnie Walker title next February 2003, having won at Hope Island in Queensland in 1997.
The return to Lake Karrinyup Country Club in 2003 marks the first time in the history of the Johnnie Walker Classic that the event has returned to the same venue in consecutive years.
Retief Goosen, a friend and compatriot of Els, will welcome the return after dominating the event last January. He took a stranglehold on the tournament during the third round firing a course-record 63 to lead by a massive 13 shots entering the final day before easing up to win by eight.
Goosen has been a prominent mover in the world rankings over the past year and won his first major title - the US Open - in 2001. Goosen went on to clinch the 2001 European Tour's Volvo Order of Merit after victories at the Scottish Open and at the Telefonica Open de Madrid.
Goosen's fine form in 2002 has enabled him to win on three different continents. He took the Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa in February straight after winning in Perth and then won the BellSouth Classic in America before finishing runner-up to Tiger Woods at The Masters. Goosen, 33, has also finished second on two other occasions this season - at the Dunhill Championship in South Africa and more recently at the 2002 Smurfit European Open in Dublin.
The Johnnie Walker Classic, jointly owned by Guinness UDV and IMG is tri- sanctioned by the European, Australasian and Asian Tours. It is the richest event on the Australasian Tour and in its 11 year history has always attracted the world's best golfers. First staged in Hong Kong the event has been played in six different countries over nine different golf courses and has been won by Tiger Woods twice, Nick Faldo twice, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Ernie Els, Michael Campbell and this year's winner Retief Goosen.
