Two-time major-winner Retief Goosen is one of five new inductees to the World Golf Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday.
He will be enshrined with Billy Payne, Jan Stephenson, Dennis Walters and the late Peggy Kirk Bell as the Class of 2019, and he joins fellow South Africans Gary Player, Bobby Locke and Ernie Els among the distinguished ranks of golfers honoured.
These five new members will be enshrined at the World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Monday, June 10, 2019, in Pebble Beach during the week of the men’s US Open Championship.
Goosen, who won 10 times on the Sunshine Tour - including the South African Open Championship in 1993 and 1995 - was honoured for a career which has been exemplary all over the world.
According to the World Golf Hall of Fame release, “Goosen sat within the Official World Golf Rankings top-10 for more than 250 weeks from 2001 through 2007. His 33 worldwide wins include two US Open Championships in 2001 – the same year he was named European Tour Player of the Year – and 2004. Goosen led the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002. He also played in six consecutive Presidents Cups from 2000 to 2011 as part of the International Team.”
Goosen’s last win on the Sunshine Tour came in the Africa Open of 2009. He turns 50 on February 3 next year, and he will be a feared competitor in the senior ranks.
African News Agency (ANA)