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NORTHERN TRUST OPENFebruary 21, 2015Retief GoosenPACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA LAURA NEAL: We welcome Retief Goosen, our third round leader. You said earlier that you didn't play very well, but here you are leading the tournament for the Northern Trust Open. Maybe just talk us through your round and what went right and what went wrong. RETIEF GOOSEN: The first nine was really putting, a lot of good recovery putts I made on the front nine. The back nine, it caught up with me a little bit. I didn't hit the ball that great on the back nine, especially my driver and hit myself in a few bad places. But I still made some good putts. Key putts were I think 13 and 15 for bogeys. Those putts kept me‑‑ you know, didn't do that much damage to the scorecard as double‑bogeys would do. Overall very happy. Obviously a very good finish and a nice chip‑in on 16 that kept the scorecard going. Q. Do you enjoy this kind of golf where it's firm greens and a real grind? And also do you think you have a benefit from your history in U.S. Opens playing this kind of golf and maintaining patience? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, patience is a big, big key on a course like this. It's pretty‑‑ yeah, I have the experience, but it's been, you know, quite a long time ago now (laughs), 14 and 11 years ago since I won a U.S. Open. It wasn't easy out there for me. Mentally‑wise, I had to work hard to try and stay positive and focused. But I'm still in the lead, so that's a good place to be. Just try and play solid tomorrow and keep the putter warm and see what happens. Q. Was there a point at some point in the last few years when you're undergoing all the injuries, and especially with the back, where you thought you would never get back to this point that you're at right now? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I mean, before surgery, when I went in for surgery, I was talking to my wife that I physically can't play golf anymore, so if surgery is not a success, I'm still in the same boat. So I'm very happy with the way that's turned out. It's now been pretty much almost 2 1/2 years since surgery. My back's feeling great. I have zero back pain. I wish I was ten years younger, but you know, I feel like I can swing the club again. I just need to control my nerves a little bit. But, yeah, I mean, the surgery has given me a second life, and hopefully continue to play on TOUR for a few years to come. Q. Not to play the hypothetical game, but if the surgery had not worked out the way it has, what would you be doing? RETIEF GOOSEN: Be sitting on a beach with a glass of wine (laughter). Q. Do you have a certain strategy going into tomorrow and are there any players you'll be looking out for? RETIEF GOOSEN: Strategy will pretty much stay the same pending conditions. It's supposed to maybe turn, the wind tomorrow, come out and off a little bit, and maybe a chance of rain. So the course will play different than it played the last three days. Otherwise I'll just stick to my game plan, try and hit fairways, try and hit greens, and make pars; if you get a birdie, it's a bonus. Q. You've talked for a couple days about holding your nerves. How were they tested today; a lot? RETIEF GOOSEN: I felt pretty good, actually, especially on the backnine ‑‑ I mean, the front nine, I felt pretty calm. I was very focused and not nervous at all. The back nine, it got to me a little bit. Hit a few wild shots and hit the first really bad putt on No. 12 for par there. I pulled the hell out of it. Then made a few bad swings after that. So like I said, the bogey putts on 13 and 15 was key. Q. Any specific place for improvement going into tomorrow? RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, there's always room for improvement. But the key is still going to be putting. If you can keep making putts on this course, because everybody's going to miss fairways and greens here. If you can get it up‑and‑down, save pars, that's key. For me tomorrow, if I can get the ball on the fairway, then it makes the second shots a lot easier into the greens here. Q. The chip‑in on 16, you made that look pretty easy. Was it more straightforward than it looked with you standing out on that little bunker? RETIEF GOOSEN: The lie wasn't too bad. It was sitting down a little bit. It could have been worse. I could have been closer to the lip. Or I think if it would have gone back into the bunker, I would have been worse off. Yeah, being elevated there, I was able to bring it down quite softly. It was one of those, I felt I could get close. I knew I couldn't leave it short unless I hit it in the rough in front of me. It just came out perfect and just went in perfect speed. Q. Are your chances tomorrow better because you're playing this kind of golf course versus playing someplace where 20‑under is going to win? RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I won't mind winning on a 20‑under golf course. But yeah, in the back of your mind, you know that everybody's grinding out there. Pars are good. Birdies, depending on conditions, birdies are good, too. Yeah, I like the tougher golf courses where you grind it out. It seems to be the ones I tend to win on. Most of my tournament wins came on the more tougher golf courses. Q. Can you talk a little about the weird episode at No. 10, first Ryan almost holes it out and then Sergio's ball comes flying in. How do you react‑‑ does it break your concentration at all? RETIEF GOOSEN: No, funny enough, I think about three years ago, I had exactly that same putt and I putted off the green. So I knew that's a very deceiving putt. You're putting uphill first, and then downhill, sidehill. It's very hard to get yourself to hit it soft. I did the same thing. I putted it too hard and went off the green. The moment I hit it, I knew I was gone. Ended up making a good five. But there's a lot going on around that hole at that time. But that's what that hole is. You know, there's a lot going on there. Q. Have you ever heard of anyone hitting a 3‑iron out of that back bunker like Sergio did? RETIEF GOOSEN: He made par probably. Not a bad place to be then. Q. I know you said you wish you were 36. How old do you actually feel? RETIEF GOOSEN: I feel great. I mean, five years ago, the way my back was, I felt 46. And now I feel 36. I must say, my body's feeling good. I really can't complain what condition my body is in. Q. Did you feel a week like this coming in your game? RETIEF GOOSEN: There was rounds that I felt like I was hitting some good shots. In the first few tournaments this year, I didn't putt very well. I took a bit of loft off my putter and it seemed to line up a bit better for me and roll a bit better. Last week or the week before last week, I felt like I was‑‑ at Torrey actually in the final round, I played pretty good. I just had a very bad finish in the last few holes. So I felt like things were sort of coming along, yeah. I won't say, yes, I knew exactly that this week was going to be a great week, but coming in this week, I felt like I've hit some good shots, just need to get the putter going, and this week I'm putting very well. Q. You said yourself it's been a while since you've been in this position, but yet you've been here enough to know‑‑ what do you have to fight off tomorrow in your own way to be able to get through tomorrow? RETIEF GOOSEN: You know, focus, really. Try and let my mind not wander too much to the leaderboards or what's going on behind‑‑ in front of you, other guys maybe making birdies. Just really try and stay focused on every shot for four and a half hours there, not lose your concentration. Play smart and see what happens. Q. What's your history at Riviera in terms of how much you look forward to playing this course? RETIEF GOOSEN: I've never done too great here. I think once I had a good finish‑‑ I don't even know what it is. But it was always a difficult course. The greens here, I think this year the greens being so firm and rock hard, I think they roll a little bit better than when they are soft and you get a lot of footprints on them. I think them being a little firmer, you feel like you've got a better chance of making putts. Q. And given everything you've gone through health‑wise and at this young age in your career, how meaningful would this be compared to all of your other wins? RETIEF GOOSEN: Oh, this would be an awesome win, yeah. It's been a while since I had a chance to win, and yeah, this would be‑‑ this will feel like a U.S. Open, a third U.S. Open for me winning this week. I'm going to give it my all tomorrow and fight hard and we'll see what happens. Q. If it were to rain tomorrow, would that change any of your strategy? Do you think the rest of the field would tighten up? RETIEF GOOSEN: I don't think‑‑ it sounds like not really heavy rain, so I don't think it's going to change the condition of the course much at all. So we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully it comes in when we're done. Q. There was a graphic on television that showed you were the 54‑hole leader four times and you won three of the four. The last time was 2005. First of all, why were you so good at that time finishing off tournaments, and secondly, does it seem like ten years since you've been a 54‑hole leader? RETIEF GOOSEN: Has it been ten years? I don't know, where was I‑‑ Innisbrook? Q. U.S. Open. RETIEF GOOSEN: U.S. Open. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how to answer that one. Q. Well, the other one then, about being able to finish off so well in difficult tournaments. RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, it seems to be the thing these days on TOUR, people leading after 54 holes struggling to win. So hopefully I can be one of the guys that can pull it off after 54 holes tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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