U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 11, 2021

Retief Goosen

Omaha Country Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: 9-under 69 today, 4-under for the championship. Came up a little bit short, but you fought today and had a good round. Just sum up what today's round was.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I didn't hit the ball as good as yesterday, but I scrambled well but I still made a few bad bogeys out there.

But I struggled with my swing the last few weeks, and the beginning of the week I was actually quite depressed, you know? What am I going to do, I don't even know if it's worth playing and, you know, to come out a tie for second is pretty good.

I scrambled well. I chopped a lot of grass out there and managed to get it done. But Jim played solid all week.

Q. Sum up the entire week for us here with a runner-up finish.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it's been a great week. It's been a tough walk, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to a flat golf course, that's for sure.

Off to the U.K. next week and then the Senior British, Sunnydale. I lived in that area for 18 years, so I know the course fairly well, so I'm looking forward to getting back there.

Q. There was a moment there where Jim got out of the blocks slow, where he had the bogey, double bogey. Were you aware of it?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I did finally see it. On the 7th hole I saw a scoreboard and saw that he was 3-over and I thought to myself, you know, if I can get it going a little bit, who knows?

But then I proceed to bogey the next. So hit a terrible shot in there, my swing was just not there. I hit a few bad shots, and like 17, I had a perfect yardage and I chunk it 40 feet short of the hole.

So it was -- it was a good week. Overall I would say the way I felt early in the week I would have taken second, but it would have been nice to have been in a little closer coming down the last.

Q. Still only a couple strokes behind coming down the stretch. What was in your mind at that point? Were you trying to push it a little more?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I mean, 10 is the hardest hole on the golf course. Made bogey there. I made a good birdie on 12. Then I thought the next hole I can hit a 3-wood on the green and I healed it short and then chunked the chip, and so the momentum was sort of lost there.

Ended up making a great birdie on 16, but Jim behind us played solid and got it back.

Q. What were your impressions of the course and how did you think the course held up this week?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I mean like I say, it's a tough walk. We're lucky it was a little cooler this weekend. But you know, it's a U.S. Open course setup. The rough's 4-, 5-, 6-inches deep, and I've had plenty of that this week. And the greens are tricky. Today the pins were as tough as they can be, I think, and the scores showed it. It wasn't easy and we had a bit of breeze.