Goosen fought for years to gain calm demeanor
Web posted
Sunday, April 4, 2004
Retief Goosen (Stats | Bio) does everything slowly. He walks slowly, talks slowly, takes his time over putts on the green. It would be hard to find anyone on the PGA Tour with a more placid demeanor.
His fellow players can't remember the last time the world's No. 7 player showed a flash of anger on the course.
They would be surprised to learn that Goosen was a world-class tantrum- and club-throwing junior golfer when he was growing up in Pietersburg, South Africa.
"I had a really bad temper," Goosen said. "Before I started playing golf, I played tennis, and I broke tennis racquets like matchsticks."
Goosen turned his attention to breaking golf clubs at age 11, after he gave up tennis.
"I remember breaking three clubs in nine holes once," Goosen said. "Eventually, I had to start paying for a shaft, and all of my pocket money then went."
Goosen was told that the contemporaries he played with then must be surprised to see his attitude now.
"Well, I don't think they played with me," Goosen said. "They were probably too scared to get hit by a club or something."
Asked when was the last time he threw a club, Goosen joked that he throws them in the locker room when no one is looking.
"No, we all have our moments, and this game can get to you very quickly," Goosen said. "I try to stay focused out there and hit one shot at a time. At the end of the day, you're just trying to really focus on the shots. In that way, (being calm) can help under pressure situations when you're focused and try to trust what you've been doing the whole time."
Goosen played with two other low-key golfers, Bob Tway (Stats | Bio) and Heath Slocum, in the Ford Championship in March.
"They are as mellow as they come," Goosen said. "They don't get wound up about anything. Between the three of us, we felt pretty relaxed out there."
Goosen said he worked to improve his temperament on the course, winning 11 times on the European Tour from 1991 to 1998. It wasn't until 1999, when he hooked up with Belgian psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, that Goosen became a world-class player.
"I always felt like my golf swing was pretty much there; I just knew the mental side of the game wasn't there, and I started working with Jos," Goosen said. "I worked with Jos probably for about three years or longer, to try to get myself to focus a lot better on the golf course and also get my temperament a little bit better. So far, it's been helping."
Since Goosen and Vanstiphout started working together in 1999, Goosen has won seven European Tour events and three PGA Tour events, including the 2001 U.S. Open. He's one of only five players to win a PGA Tour event in each of the past three years.
"It's not really the course that it was a few years ago," Goosen said. "It was all more a putting contest, really. It's really become an all-around-game golf course now that you need to have every part of your game in shape.
"In the past, guys that were never really straight drivers really won around here," he said. "But now with the holes being lengthened, a lot of holes being narrowed, you really have to drive the ball well around here."
Goosen hit 39 of the 60 non-par-3 fairways last year and 50 of 72 greens in regulation, tying with Rich Beem (Stats | Bio) for most greens hit.
It was the putter that let him down. He finished tied for 43rd of the 49 players who made the cut in putting, with 122 putts. Mike Weir (Stats | Bio) , the tournament champion, had 104 putts.
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
