Retief Goosen is just another solid golfer from South Africa, right? That statement is the opinion of some, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. The 36-year-old Goosen turned pro way back in 1990, but it wasn’t until 2001 that he joined the PGA Tour. That is also the year he began to make his mark in a big way! When the 2001 U.S. Open came to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK (my home state by the way), it was almost certain nobody picked Retief Goosen to win that week. He had a two-footer on the 72nd hole to seal the deal, but he missed the putt and had to make one equally as long to get into a playoff with Mark Brooks. He made that putt and defeated Brooks in an 18-hole playoff the next day to earn the first of his two U.S. Open titles.
His second came just last year at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, NY. Only two players managed to finish under par – Goosen and Phil Mickelson. With the win, Goosen had won his second major championship in three years. But all people seemed to talk about was how Phil Mickelson lost the tournament with a double bogey on the 71st hole. The focus should have been on Goosen finishing birdie-par-par to hold off his closest competitors to get the victory.
He also won the year-end Tour Championship last November, which is comprised of the top-30 money winners on the PGA Tour. The great competitors were all there, and once again Retief showed he could compete with and beat the best on any given week. But the focus that week was whether or not Vijay would finally win Player of the Year. I bet a lot of fans forgot that Goosen even won the Tour Championship last year.
Golf fans seem to overlook the South African Goosen on an everyday basis. It has been all about the “Big Four” in 2005 so far, which is of course Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson. All of the “Big Four” have won at least twice around the world this year, and Retief Goosen has yet to pick up a first-place finish in 2005. So people tend to talk about the “Big Four” instead of the “Big Five” like it should be. I think by the end of 2005, people will definitely be talking about Retief Goosen being at the top or very near the top of the world rankings. I think he will be the best player in the world not named Tiger Woods, who is clearly still the top golfer going today.
Goosen has played all over the world so far in 2005. He has played three tournaments on the European Tour and currently sits atop the European Tour Order of Merit. He has played eight events on the PGA Tour and has made the cut in every one of those events as well. In half of his eight starts on the PGA Tour, he has finished in the top ten, including third place finishes at The Masters and the World Golf Match Play Championship. In fact, he was the only number one seed in the Match Play Championship that made it past the third round. He also finished fourth at Bay Hill. So it’s not like he is just playing the easy tournaments. He plays in the events that have the best fields. His other four finishes include two top-15s, one top 25, and a tie for 56th. Overall, he has won five times on the PGA Tour since 2001 and has 17 other International victories throughout the world.
This just shows he has been as consistent as anyone else in the “Big Four.” He is currently fifth in the world rankings and 1.25 points behind Mickelson for fourth. He is also about three points above Adam Scott, who moved into sixth on the world rankings list. The gap is far too large not to include Goosen in the “Big Five.” He is just a win or two away from definitely being near the top, and that could happen at anytime during the year. He will surely be one of the favorites when the golfers tee it up at Pinehurst for the U.S. Open in June. He has shown he has the game to win on that type of course as well as any other major course.
Final Thoughts
After reading this, I hope you realize there is a little more to Retief Goosen than your original thought. He is not going to pull off too many “Tiger fist-pumps”, and he isn’t going to give the galleries many of those Phil Mickelson “fake” smiles so-to-speak, although I did see him crack a small smile at the Tavistock Cup a month ago. Come to think of it, he probably isn’t going to win as many “weaker-field” events as Vijay Singh or moan about how tough a U.S. Open course is like his South African counterpart Ernie Els. All Goosen plans on doing is going out there each week he tees it up and showing the golf world that silky smooth swing he has and make cut after cut after cut. He never gets too high or low during a round of golf, and by the time next April rolls around, he will have the attention of many more golf fans in the United States and throughout the world. You can bank on that!
Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to contact me or comment below!
I thought Goosen’s win at Shinnecock was awesome. He had 24 putts in the final round on those ice rinks while others flailed around.
As a non-US resident I also love the way he plays the other tours and hope he makes it down-under next time.
I fully agree.
Retief has finished third at the Masters and second at the Johnny Walker, two very high class, strong field, events.
In Africa they talk about the Big 5: Leopard, Buffalo, Rhino, Elefant and Lion. In golfing I believe Retief set himself apart as one of the best. And I’m not biased because I’m a South Afican.
Double Bogey 7, OUT.