Retief Goosen leads by one at Qatar

[truebluefan]

South Africa's Retief Goosen shot a 3-under-par 69 Thursday on his 42nd birthday to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the Qatar Masters.

With winds reaching 25 mph at the Doha Golf Club, Goosen managed five birdies to finish one shot ahead of defending champion Robert Karlsson of Sweden, South Africa's Darren Fichardt and England's Richard Finch.

"It was tough to get close to the flags. It was windy and difficult," Goosen said. "Putting wasn't easy as you're getting blown all over the place."

The windy conditions seemed to unsettle some of the most prominent players, with top-ranked Lee Westwood shooting a 73 and American Steve Stricker a 76.

"I really struggled," said Westwood, who had four bogeys and three birdies. "I'm not hitting it right when it is windy like this. It's hard to control the ball. But it was a decent score."

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