Jacket would fit underrated Goosen
Certain golfers in their prime today have the look of a future Masters Tournament champion. Retief Goosen fits that bill, or that green jacket.
The two-time U.S. Open champion has the kind of track record at Augusta National Golf Club (no worse than 13th the past four years, and tied for third in 2005) that makes some believe he'll be the next South African to win the Masters, not Ernie Els.
"Sure, Retief would be a good candidate; the guy has won two U.S. Opens," said fellow U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. "He's long. He pounds it."
Goosen finished 44th on the PGA Tour in driving distance in 2005 with a 295-yard average. At the soggy Augusta National last year, Goosen was eighth in driving distance at 282.4 yards.
"Can I win on the course? I hope so," Goosen said of Augusta National. "The course is great."
One hundred fifty-five yards have been added to Augusta National, which will play 7,445 yards this year.
"It's obviously getting longer and longer and taking more players out of play," Goosen said. "It's really setting up for the longer hitters now. It's going to be interesting to see what the changes are like."
Earlier this season, Goosen moved ahead of Els in the World Golf Ranking, but it was hardly noticed.
"The guy might be the most underrated of all of them (the top players)," Olin Browne said of Goosen. "When he hits a shot off line, I'm trying to figure out how it happened because it doesn't look like he made a bad swing."
You can't tell by Goosen's demeanor, either. He wears the same expression whether he hits a good shot or a bad one.
"He doesn't get too emotional out there; he's got some good nerves," Furyk said.
About the only time Goosen gets testy is when the subject of his low profile among top golfers is broached.
"I just go out and play," Goosen said, raising his voice. "It's up to the media if they want to make a fuss about it all. What more can I do beside just playing golf, which is what I do for a living? No, it doesn't bother me. It's other people's problems."
Last year, Goosen showed how well-suited his game is for a course as challenging as Augusta National. He had 48 pars and 15 birdies against just eight bogeys and a double bogey. He tied for 10th in greens hit in regulation with 49.
Since Goosen's Masters debut in 1998, the course has added 460 yards and planted trees on various holes to put more of a premium on hitting the fairways.
"When I went there for the first time, you could hit it anywhere and get it on the green," Goosen said. "It tests everything in your game now. It's nice to see what they've done to the course."
Goosen hasn't seen the latest changes and won't until tournament week. He's playing four consecutive tournaments leading into the Masters, including the prelude, the BellSouth Classic, where he is a former champion. But he's heard reports on the changes from players who have seen them, including Els.
"From the changes I heard, it favors the long hitters once again," Goosen said.
Goosen is puzzled by some of those changes. The par-4 11th hole, the toughest hole on the course two of the past three years, was lengthened from 490 yards to 505, and a grove of trees was planted down the right side. Yardage was also added to No. 1 (20 yards), which played as the sixth toughest hole in 2005.
"I don't know, some of the holes they lengthened, we didn't figure needed lengthening," Goosen said. "Maybe if they left it the way it was a couple of years ago and just grew a bit of rough, it would be a better course. We played it so wet the last few years that the ball hasn't run at all."
Goosen, a member of the PGA and European tours, will arrive at the Masters more mentally refreshed than ever. He took an extended off-season break, not making his 2006 debut until the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 2.
"I didn't touch a club for five weeks," he said. "I put them in the cupboard, and wherever I traveled, I didn't even take them with me. That's the first time I've done that, not played for five weeks.
"I did everything I haven't done for a while," Goosen said of his time off. "So that was nice. I laid in the sun, got a bit of a suntan. But generally it was just eat and drink, mainly. I didn't do anything, no exercising, nothing."
Goosen has 20 international victories and six on the PGA Tour, including two major championships (the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2004).
He was primed to win a third U.S. Open last year when he took a three-shot lead into the final round at Pinehurst No. 2. Uncharacteristically, Goosen closed with 81 to finish tied for 11th.
"I threw one away," Goosen said.
The U.S. Open was the only major he didn't finish in the top 10 in 2005. In addition to his tie for third in the Masters, he tied for fifth in the British Open and tied for sixth in the PGA Championship.
"On the majors front, I was up there in pretty much all of them, and I had a chance," he said. "I've put together three good rounds and then one bad one in between."
In the Masters, that "bad round" was a second-round 75. He had the final-round 81 in the U.S. Open, a second-round 73 in the British Open and a final-round 72 in the PGA Championship.
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
