Goosen's old putter clutch in latest win
PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- The Swashbuckler putter he used to win two U.S. Opens and countless other tournaments somehow found its way to the depths of disfavor.
Retief Goosen had all but written it off, banished it to retirement, relegated it to a dark corner of his garage.
He had gone to a belly putter, for goodness' sake -- a desperation move if there ever was one -- and Goosen did so because he figured the situation could not get any worse.
The change was short-lived, as the longer putter could not produce the kind of magic that once saw Goosen sit comfortably among golf's so-called Big Five, which included Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.
But something about it helped.
"In a way, maybe that was a good training aid," Goosen said Sunday after winning the Transitions Championship, where he seemingly made every putt he looked at all week. "Putting three events with that putter, just getting a different look at how to stroke the ball and getting your shoulders to work a bit differently.
"Then when I had my week off before last week, I went back to the short putter, my old putter. I pretty much won all the tournaments I won with that putter. So it seems to be behaving again."
It sure does.
Goosen's 1-under 70 at Innisbrook's Copperhead course might not seem all that impressive, but it was more about all the dirty work he did on the greens all week that brought him his seventh PGA Tour title but first since the 2005 International.
His victory was capped by a knee-knocking 5-footer for par on the final hole, one that preserved a one-stroke victory over Charles Howell III and Brett Quigley. That clutch putt made Goosen an amazing 55-of-55 on putts 5 feet or less for the week on greens he likened to the sinister surfaces he overcame at a place called Shinnecock Hills -- where he won the 2004 U.S. Open.
"The greens were just brutal," Howell said. "I've never seen a golf course change more from Thursday and Friday to Saturday and Sunday that it wasn't a major. And par became a good score.
"I played with Goose when he won here in 2003, and I then I played with him the first two days at Shinnecock when he won. Hell, he owes me half."
Howell might view himself as something of a good-luck charm, but Goosen said his transformation at age 40 from middling golfer mired -- if you want to call it that -- around the 50th-best in the world to one who could again compete against the best started with a simple look in the mirror.
He didn't like what he saw.
"I thought I might as well try and turn everything around," Goosen said of his early 2008 revelation. "Started working very hard in the gym. I thought I might as well, instead of getting totally out of shape and struggling, I might as well be fit and struggling. I'd rather at least feel better about myself.
"I worked hard this December. I pretty much hit balls almost every day. I didn't have much of a holiday. My whole game started getting a little bit better. It's just a matter of getting more consistency going."
Despite the long winless stretch on the PGA Tour, Goosen had not been without success. Although he had dropped from a high of No. 3 in the world as recently as 2006, Goosen did win European Tour events in South Africa and China in 2006 and 2007, as well as two events on the Asian Tour. In December, he won a tournament in Malaysia on the Asian Tour and in January won again at home in South Africa -- the Africa Open -- on the Sunshine Tour.
Admittedly, those victories were not against the highest-caliber fields. But they were victories nonetheless, and they helped when the pressure was at its greatest Sunday.
Starting the final round a shot behind third-round leader Tom Lehman, Goosen needed to make a 10-footer to save a bogey at the second hole, and then didn't make a birdie until he chipped in at the ninth. Then after a 340-yard drive at the par-5 11th, Goosen knocked a 5-iron to 20 feet, made the eagle putt and two holes later had a two-shot advantage.
Player after player remarked how difficult the four finishing holes were and that they were as brutal as any they will see all year. Goosen was plenty familiar with them, having won here in 2003. And when he bogeyed the 16th, he gave hope to Howell -- who would have qualified for the Masters with a victory -- and Quigley, who was still in search of his first PGA Tour win.
An excellent up-and-down from the rough at the 17th meant a par would do it for Goosen, and then he left himself a 25-footer down a steep slope on the 18th green -- and ran it 5 feet past.
"You're never going to bet against him to miss that," Howell said. "You don't win two U.S. Opens by missing those."
Actually … Goosen almost did blow a U.S. Open by missing one shorter than that. He three-putted from 12 feet in 2001 at Southern Hills -- missing from 2 feet for a par that would have won -- before defeating Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff the next day.
Three years later, he held off Mickelson at Shinnecock, where complaints raged about the speed and firmness of the greens. Goosen needed just 24 putts that day. He needed only 28 on Sunday, including that last 5-footer -- and was the only player to break par all four rounds.
"I don't know what it is, when the greens get so crusty and fast, I tend to be able to control my stroke better on these quicker putts than on putters where I feel like I have to hit it," Goosen said. "When I feel like I can just make a very smooth stroke and the ball will get to the hole, I seem to make a better stroke.
"If I putt on greens like this all year long, I think I'll enjoy it."
And the belly putter?
Goosen has a place for it in a dark corner of his garage.
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
