With daughter hospitalized, Goosen stays and plays like a champ

The South African's wife dissuaded him from coming home.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUN CITY, South Africa -- Retief Goosen won the Nedbank Challenge by six strokes in his home country Sunday, closing with a 3-under-par 69 while third-round leader Lee Westwood was undone by a triple bogey on the eighth hole and finished with an 80.
Goosen, the U.S. Open champion, was at 7-under 281. Countryman Ernie Els and Australia's Stuart Appleby were next at 287. Els, a three-time champion at Sun City, shot a 71 and Appleby a 74. Americans Chris DiMarco (74) and Jim Furyk (72) were at 288.
Goosen nearly didn't play this tournament after learning Wednesday his newborn daughter was in hospital with bronchitis."
"I was all ready to climb onto a plane right away and go back to London," he said. "But my wife, Tracy, persuaded me to play, and this win certainly makes it worthwhile."
Westwood followed his triple bogey on the par-4 eighth with a birdie on the ninth. But Goosen responded with an eagle on the same hole.
"After that, I thought I could get to 12 under for the tournament," Goosen said. "But the bogeys on 10 and 11 put that out the window."
Goosen has been weakened by a cold that has lasted three weeks, making the whole tournament a struggle. "Every shot was like a fight out there this week," he said. "At least my chipping was good."
Goosen, whose U.S. Open victory this year came on a demanding Shinnecock Hills course on Long Island, relishes the challenge of difficult layouts. "This was one of the toughest courses we played on all year," he said. "I like it when it's really tough. I think better players come through on a tough course."
The course caused a trail of poor scores -- notably, Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard closed with a 78 and finished 22 strokes off the lead.
Australian PGA
COOLUM, Australia -- Australia's Peter Lonard won for the third straight week, shooting a 7-under 65 on Sunday in the Australian PGA for a two-shot victory over third-round leader James Nitties.
Lonard, a regular on the U.S. PGA Tour, began the streak two weeks ago with a victory in the New South Wales Open on the secondary Von Nida tour and successfully defended his Australian Open title last week. He'll try to make it four in a row next week in the Australian Masters at Huntingdale in Melbourne.
Lonard, three strokes behind Nitties after the third round, finished with an 18-under 270 total on the Hyatt Regency resort course. Nitties, the 22-year-old former amateur star making only his fourth professional start, closed with a 70.
Hong Kong Open
HONG KONG -- Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Hong Kong Open for his fifth European tour title of the year, closing with a 4-under 66 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Ryder Cup teammate Padraig Harrington and South Africa's James Kingston.
Jimenez had a 14-under 266 total on the Hong Kong Golf Club course for his 14th career European tour title.
The 40-year-old Spaniard also won two other events in Asia this year, the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand and BMW Asian Open in China.