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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 8, 2008Retief GoosenAUGUSTA, GEORGIA LARRY PUGH: Retief, welcome. Retief had his second runner-up finish at the Masters last year and the result was his fourth Top-10 finish in nine starts in Augusta. Retief has over 30 worldwide victories, including six on the PGA TOUR. He captured the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills and four-time Presidents Cup team member. Q. Can you just talk about the state of your game, you played really well at Doral and is that the best you've played in a while? Do you feel pretty good about everything? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I think I was starting to hit the ball better since the end of last year and obviously Doral, I putted very well. I just changed on my putting probably the week before Doral -- two weeks before Doral. I changed on my putting, sort of went back to it the way I was in 2002 and 2003. Also went back to the old putter. (Chuckling). Yeah, suddenly I started making a few putts. New Orleans, I didn't make as many putts there as I would have liked but I think it was sort of good preparation, so, yeah, I'm looking forward to this week. Q. You went back to your old stroke or old setup or what did you change? RETIEF GOOSEN: My old setup mainly, more trying to copy what the old setup used to be like. Q. You're going to have to backup a little bit for me here, the way that you called Gregor (Jamieson) on the phone and told him you were not happy with how you were playing, what kind of precipitated that? Obviously everybody is trying to get better, and were you just -- did you feel like you were stagnant? For a guy who had never had a coach -- RETIEF GOOSEN: I was a little bit stuck, and you know, every week you are sort of trying something different, and that doesn't work. So I thought, I'm going to get somebody that can just look at it and say, this is what the problem is and one thing to work on and try and fix that. And that's all we've done, really, is work on one thing on the backswing a little bit. At least my wild shots are not as bad anymore, so it's narrowed it down a little bit. I'm still not as straight as Timmy Clark or anybody and the putting, same thing as well. We tried a little bit of something at the end of last year and the beginning of the year, but it didn't quite really work out so that's when we decided to go back to where I was. Q. As a follow, he said in that initial conversation that you having never really had a swing coach had been a feel guy, that teachers, golf coaches scared the hell out of you. Wondered what prompted you to say that and then to spend the next several months with a guy where it wasn't like you had immediate success after the fact? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, the end of the day, it doesn't really matter who you work with and how much the coach can help you, you still have to feel comfortable out on the course and make the swing. I was struggling then, and I felt getting somebody just to have a look and work on those few things can only improve it. I don't think it could have got any worse. So that's what I decided to go to Gregor, somebody that I can see now and then that's not too involved with too many other players and can just sort of focus on my swing. Q. From a betting man's perspective you're probably the most lucrative bet each week in golf; does it satisfy you to regularly be you in the top challenging for majors or is it annoying to be up there and not quite get the win? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, since 2002, obviously it's been good for me around here. I love the golf course. Last year was a bit disappointing in the last at the point holes, last ten greens in regulation and shot 1-over, and so the putting let me down in the last ten holes last year. I played well under pressure and hit all the greens in regulation, so it's just a matter of getting those few extra putts in that would have won the tournament for me, so this year I can come back, and I'm feeling confident about my putting so looking forward to the week. Q. Is that the putter that you had won the previous majors with, the same putter? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I went back to the same putter I've been using now since beginning of 2001, yeah. Q. I was wondering, you've played here so many times so well, do you have any rituals or superstitions or things you make sure you do or don't do? RETIEF GOOSEN: Not really. Just leave your house early enough in the morning so you make it here on time. (Laughter). Q. Do you always get a house? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, about a mile away and it takes you 45 minutes to get here. That's the only thing that I make sure that I do, really. Once you drive inside the gates here, everything is so different. Yeah, everybody loves the place. It's a great place to come and play golf. Q. You've never stayed at a hotel, you've always gotten a house? RETIEF GOOSEN: The last four years, I've rented a house just behind the course and the years before that I stayed in hotels, yes. Q. The swing change, you said there's been kind of one basic change and there's been bits and pieces and I guess you changed your grip slightly? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I weakened my grip a little bit, and the biggest being not so much across the line at the top and trying to get it more straight at the top, that's the main thing we've been trying to work on. Q. And that was affecting the accuracy of your driving would be the biggest symptom? RETIEF GOOSEN: Definitely, too much across, you might hit a big draw or you block it. So trying to get it a little bit more on-line so it just comes out a bit straighter. Q. Is it feeling natural at this point? RETIEF GOOSEN: It's still a bit hard sometimes. Obviously you think of trying to do it and you just get down and hit the ball at the end, you know, but it's always sort of in the back of your mind to keep working and get what you're trying to do. But it's been a while now and I think between me and Gregor, we feel like it's the best it's been forever since I started working with him, so I just seem to get it into the right position a little bit more often now. Q. He said that he mentioned in your initial conversations that it might take ten months before you felt like you could do it without thinking about it and became natural. RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah. Q. I guess it took probably at least that long, and was there any point over that window as you're sort of falling down the World Rankings you're wondering whether you made the right call? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it's hard, you know, you've got to know that it's going to take a few months to work on something and for it to start falling into place and when it does it's frustrating that the result is not really improving, and I've really -- the putting has been the issue, really. If you keep hitting it 50 feet away, you're not going to make many putts, but when you start hitting 20 feet closer and you still are not making putts, it gets a bit frustrating. Now but, I feel like I'm hitting a lot better and putting is a lot better so hopefully it all starts falling together now. Q. Do you feel like you should have more majors? Is that a frustration? RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I don't know, how much can we buy this major for this week? Yeah, obviously, British Open and this event is probably, and the U.S. Open, all of them, doesn't matter which one, but obviously everybody would love to win a Masters. You know, you can only go out there and try, that's all you can do. I've come close a couple of times now, twice, second and third in four years, so hopefully I can just get over that hurdle this week. Q. Everybody always talks about how important local knowledge is on this golf course, it's very important obviously, but is local knowledge tied to the greens itself, the breaks where to hit it, where not to hit it as opposed to the rest of the golf course or is it everywhere? RETIEF GOOSEN: Obviously the greens, local knowledge on the greens, knowing how much break you have to play for is the biggest local knowledge thing I think you can have around here. Driving, you know, the course is playing very long at the moment. You don't need to shape it off the tee as much as you used to and you just hit it straight and not even reach the trouble -- for me, anyway. The greens, to hit on the right side of the flag and knowing what the putt is going to do; you know, talking to Richard Sterne yesterday, couldn't believe how much break he had to play on some of these greens. So local knowledge definitely helps. Q. Can you just clarify the laser eye surgery and when did you have it done and have you had problems from that? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I had it done in -- whenever it was, January. Q. Second one or the first one? RETIEF GOOSEN: The first one didn't quite work out. The first one, I had to go back a couple of weeks later and get it done again and now it's good, it's perfect, yeah. I had to take an extra month break, missed the events in the Middle East and so on, but you have to get that sort of thing right, and it's good now. Q. Could you talk about, once you've won a couple U.S. Opens and raised that bar and played really well, one of the top players in the world, how did you deal with the frustration of maybe not playing at that level for a while? You seem like such an easygoing, relaxed guy; is it tough for you? RETIEF GOOSEN: No, it's not easy. It's never easy when you've played well and you're struggling all of a sudden. It's frustrating. You know you can hit the shots but it's not happening. You know, I know how hard it is for David Duval, as well, the way he's struggling. You know, that's what made me decide to get a coach and do the changes. Can't go much worse. You need to hit the ball well out here to make it and if you don't, you go home. I'm sure David is going to have to make a few changes. He's three years, four years younger than me so he still has enough time to do those changes. I think it's important when you are struggling like that to get somebody on it; I think it can only get better. Q. The eye surgery thing, was that a scare for you at the time? RETIEF GOOSEN: No, it wasn't really. We knew what the problem was. It was something that was fixed pretty easy. Q. You were one of the first on TOUR to get it -- RETIEF GOOSEN: I had it done in '99 the first time. Q. What do you feel it brought to you? RETIEF GOOSEN: I can see the hole. (Laughter). Yeah, the biggest thing is obviously when it's overcast and late afternoon sometimes, then I started struggling so that's why I had to go for a touch-up and when it's sunny, it's fine. It's just not quite when the light is strong enough that's what I'm struggling to see. Q. Do you see greens better? Are you able to read putts better, do you think? RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, hopefully, hopefully. If I make a lot of putts, I would say the surgery helped. If I don't, then what can I say? (Laughing). Q. I guess it would have been L.A. this year was your first time out and scores were -- I thought they had blinded you or something with the laser surgery. How long had it been since you played? RETIEF GOOSEN: Two months. Q. So that was just mostly rust? RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, that was my first event out in two months, because I missed those events in the Middle East, so I had to take another three or four weeks off. So, yeah, it was a two-month break. Yeah, it wasn't easy coming out of that; swing wasn't that great. Q. What is the best piece of advice or local knowledge you gave to Richard? RETIEF GOOSEN: I just said enjoy it, have fun. I don't want to give him too much advice. He's a good player and he's got to learn the way we've learned around here. He's a great player and he's hitting the ball well. He played with Gary Player yesterday and I played with Gary Player today, and he said he's hitting it very well. His putting has never been the best, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the greens this week. Q. So you didn't give him any secrets? RETIEF GOOSEN: No. LARRY PUGH: Thank you and have a great week. End of FastScripts |
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