home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2006

Retief Goosen

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

CLAUDE NIELSEN: First of all, I want to congratulate you Retief on your first round of 70, 2 under par. If you don't mind some comments and then we'll take questions.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I thought the golf course played as good as we'll see it out there today. Hardly any wind. So can only get tougher out there I think when the wind starts blowing and the greens drying out. The greens are already starting to dry out a lot. I think the course is playing the best I've seen it there for a while for everybody, shorter hitters, longer hitters, the fairways are running out of places a little bit, so even the shorter hitters are getting some distance out on the fairways.

And the greens are rolling well. So I think 2 under is not a bad start. I'm very happy with that score. That was pretty much as good as I could have shot out there today. I didn't drive it that well. I was making a lot of 5 footers for pars out there today, which is not good, but hopefully I'll feel a bit more comfortable out there and make a few better swings.

Q. Is there one hole more than any other out there that is going to prove really, really difficult as the week goes on?

RETIEF GOOSEN: All of them. (Laughter) I think 11 is probably the hardest hole out there. I hit it in the trees on the right today and got a break and managed to get it short of the green and chipped and putted. You stand on the tee and there's trees right, trees left and about ten yards gap in between and that's all you see really from the tee.

Overall, I'm happy. I think the course is playing great. I think 14 is a very difficult flag to get to today. I know Tiger made 2 there today, but it's very difficult to stop it. I think the course is shaping up to play very tough on the weekend.

Q. I'm guessing that's probably as close to U.S. Open type conditions as this course has played since you've been coming here, and I'm sure that just breaks your heart, doesn't it.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Definitely, yeah. Especially around the greens, you miss the greens, it's so firm around the greens now and the ball just bounces often, 15 yards away from the green. So that makes it even more difficult to get it up and down. Yeah, the greens are in places starting to get very much like Shinnecock last year already, very brown and crusty. If the wind really picks up tomorrow and it stays like this, there might be a few greens the ball might move on. The greens are going to be tough.

Q. Could you go into your two birdies, please.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I hit it in the trees on the right on the second. Couldn't get out of the trees and finally got out of the trees and then made 6.

I made a good birdie on the third. Holed about a 20 footer.

12, it's probably the easiest hole on the course today I think. No wind, just a 9 iron. Everybody sort of feels like you can hit it close there and make a 2. I didn't hit it that close, about 20 feet, and made a good putt.

I hit 2 iron, 2 iron, just over the back left of the green on 13 and chip, hit a poor chip down about 20 feet and made the putt there.

Q. The 11th is the toughest hole on the course, but when the pin placements change, do you think there's going to be another hole tougher than 11?

RETIEF GOOSEN: They are all tough. As you say, unless you hit the right shot, they don't play that tough but if you hit the wrong shot, you're in trouble.

I think 11 will probably play the toughest hole all week. Doesn't matter where the flags are everywhere on any of the other greens.

Q. Before the tournament started, all of the speculation was on how you drove the ball and you didn't drive it that well today as you say.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Especially on the front nine, no. The back nine was better, except 11. Otherwise, I kept it in play. But the front nine I think I hit about three fairways or two fairways and that was it.

Q. What did you hit on No. 4?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No. 4 this morning, I killed a 4 iron. It just landed sort of in the bank and looked like a good shot but it came all the way back down. The wind today is sort of helping on 4, so I think most of the guys will be hitting 3 or 4 irons.

Q. Was it a little quieter out there today in terms of yells or screams that you usually hear?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, definitely, it was one hole when Mike Weir was teeing off, you could hear the birds singing away, like there's nobody on the course. (Laughter).

Yeah, it's definitely a lot quieter out there than you normally hear around Augusta, beside the one big cheer we heard and we obviously all knew that was Tiger doing something.

Q. You made the Shinnecock comparison. In the absence of rain over the next couple of days, could we get to a Sunday Shinnecock comparison? Could the course become that kind of difficult?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Oh, very quickly. We had a morning field and some of the greens were already 15, you've got no chance I think stopping it on that green or going in there with a 3 iron. I had 3 iron into there today. I was trying to hit it in the right trap and try and get it up and down and missed the bunker and went 15 yards over the green.

Yeah, if it gets windy and drying out very quickly, the greens are going to get very funny.

Q. That doesn't break your heart, though.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, you know, in a way, yeah.

Q. It seems to be to your advantage.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, yeah, I like it tough. We all like to grind out there on every hole. That's the way I like it, yeah. If it turns out to be that way, I've played on that sort of conditions before and won on that, so, yeah, I do have the belief that I can do it.

Q. There's been three days of speculation, some criticism, what have you, and now that the tournament is underway, did you find anything out about the course that surprised you or that you might not have expected?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No. I think it's like I say, some of the holes are actually playing shorter than they did last year, like 9. Even 7, you're getting it down the hill. Although 7 was a bit into the wind today, I had 7 iron in there.

But the par 5s, 8, the guys were hitting it on in two there today. Some of the holes are definitely playing shorter than they have in the past. But I think the course is very good.

Q. I believe you and Ernie and Trevor Immelman and Gary Player played in a practice round, did you learn anything, in his 49th appearance?

RETIEF GOOSEN: He's such an inspiration to all of us. It's always great to play with Gary. He probably played better than all of us, he hit the ball so well. He missed one fairway; he played great.

Very positive, great character to be around and learn from him. No, we really very much enjoyed it. Who knows how many more years he's going to go. I'm sure he's going to go for that record, knowing Gary. So hopefully he'll be around for another three years or so.

Q. Would you give a general assessment of the course after just one round, it might be hard, but have the changes worked or not worked; is it a better course, a worse course or what?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I think the course is definitely a better course. It's tough, that's for sure. The rough is just slightly longer than it's been in the past two, which in a way on some of the holes, if you miss the fairways getting so firm now, the rough tends to stop the ball a little bit from running into the trees. It's just that little bit more difficult to hit out of it.

I think the course today was a perfect setup.

Q. What about all of the criticisms of it? Do you think people have got a little bit carried away?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No. I think everybody will be very happy with the course today the way it was. You know, tomorrow it might blow a gale and we'll all be moaning at things. But I don't think anybody will be unhappy with the way the course played today.

Q. Early in the round, how big was the birdie on 3 after struggling on 2, and you were never in black the rest of the round?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, 3 today was downwind as well. I hit 3 iron and just a soft wedge in there. So that's one of the holes you felt like picking up a shot. It was great to make a good putt there and get myself back up to even par and from there on it was a bit of a struggle and made those two good birdies. You know, 7, I drove it in the left rough and those new trees there, I managed to get it to the front of the green and holed a good 8 footer there for par again.

So I holed a lot of good putts for pars today, which kept my score low.

Q. You spoke of the comparison to Shinnecock and the lack of noise today; is the atmosphere changing here with the changes to the course?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, definitely not. They are cheering now for when you're making pars whereas in the past they cheer when you make birdies. (Laughter) No, everybody is very happy out there.

Q. Are you aware that Gary shot 79 today and was thrilled about that?

RETIEF GOOSEN: It's a great score. Like I said, on Tuesday, he hit the ball as good as I've seen him hit it the times I've played with him. That's a great score around here for Gary, because, you know, he's probably hitting 3 wood into 17 for his second.

Q. He hit a driver at 4?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, so that's an awesome score for him around here.

Q. Do you know he birdied the first? He was on the leaderboard for an hour. 1 under was on the leaderboard for an hour.

RETIEF GOOSEN: I'm glad for Gary, he's such a great competitor and he probably still believes he can win out here. (Laughter).

CLAUDE NIELSEN: Thank you very much. Congratulations. Play well.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297