Leading a golf tournament going into the last round is pressure enough for the seasoned professional, but for the young amateur playing alongside the top pros it's almost inevitable the golfer is going to "crack".

Not Springbok amateur Retief Goosen though, who carded a steady final round of 71 to win the Kempton Park Classic yesterday with a 54-hole total of 205, which is 11-under-par on the Kempton Park Country Club course.

"I didn't really expect to win, but I've been practising hard for the Sunshine Tour qualifying school and this has obviously helped," said "Goose" who beat 117 pros this week, and finished a comfortable three shots ahead of big-hitting Wayne Westner (70 yesterday) and rookie De Wet Basson (73) on 208.

A day's best 66 in unfavourable cold and windy conditions saw Peter van der Riet come through the field to finish fourth on 209.

Goosen (21) - who won the SA Amateur championship in March - turned professional immediately after yesterday's win. The Pietersburg golfer's next objective is the qualifying school at Randfontein Estates (Oct 30-Nov 1).

Barring a complete loss of form, "Goose" should earn his card easily enough and then turn his attention to the Sunshine Circuit.

Westner was also minus-11 at one stage yesterday: "But I lost my head and dropped three shots in six holes on the back nine."

Still, the big pro - who tees up in the Nissan Skins at Roodepoort CC on November 10 and 11 - is in enviable form. In 12 events on the Sharp Winter Tour, he has won three times and finished runnerup on four occasions. In golf, that is dominating.

Oct 20, 1990