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

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2005

Retief Goosen

SURREY, ENGLAND

RODDY WILLIAMS: Retief, thank you very much for coming and joining us today. I understand this is your 13th PGA Championship. Do you think you're lucky for 13 this week?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I hope so, yeah. I've not been lucky at the other ones. I've really struggled in the other ones.

New sponsor, maybe everything new, so maybe the golf swing new, everything new this week.

RODDY WILLIAMS: You've been out this morning, what do you think of the condition of the course and your prospects ahead at the next four days?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I think the course is as good as I've seen it. The greens are very good. It's different from the course we normally play at The Match Play, or even the last few PGA Championships was very muddy and soft. Now it's nice and firm and it's supposed to get firmer, so I'm looking forward to that. I enjoy the course when it gets a bit more firmer.

RODDY WILLIAMS: And you're currently leading the Order of Merit, so any thoughts at ON that at the moment, keeping ahead of Ernie?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I would probably think he's going to be the guy to stay ahead of, or try to stay ahead of the whole golf season. It's a long way to go, a lot of big tournaments coming up now, and really starting this week, so important events.

Q. Thomas has just been talking about how important it is that people like you and others come back for this tournament, and there were one or two notable absentees; do you have any thoughts on it?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I don't know. It's always been permanent in my schedule. I just wish I played a little bit better over here. But at the moment, it's probably permanent and will stay in my schedule for a long time.

Q. Is that because it's a certain feel that you have for the European Tour and you don't want to miss it?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, because it's a European Tour event, our it's biggest European Tour event, and it fits in well with my schedule as well. It's a good date, and that has a big influence on it, too. I enjoy playing it and supporting it.

Q. When you're making out your schedule, presuming four majors going first, and how you want to prepare for them, after that, is this quite a big priority?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, you go your majors, your world events and then you go your other big events and. Then you work your way down to the smaller ones that you're not sure of at the end of the year, but the PGA is one that always falls in after the world events.

Q. Why haven't you played well here? And it's not just you; it seems in recent years as if the big name players haven't figured in the hunt here, and if you look at the winners over recent years, they have sort of come from out of the blue to win here. What is it about this place?

RETIEF GOOSEN: The course is, I think when it gets breezy around here, it's tricky with the wind. I've just always really struggled to read the greens properly here. I hit a lot of good putts, but nothing goes in. So that's been the frustrating part for me around here really is just not being able to make the right putts at the right time.

Q. Why so many dark horses?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, they obviously read the greens well that week. I don't know, Ernie obviously loves this course, Monty does. I think they are going to be the two guys to beat this week.

Q. You like it, but you just didn't done well on it?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I just haven't done well in it. Padraig feels the same that he's just not quite I struggle on some of the holes to set up properly and line up properly. But mostly it's been on the greens that I haven't made putts.

But this year, the greens are, like I say, it's really good and they roll a little bit different. They are going to be a lot faster than they have been in the past. So the faster, the better for me. Maybe I'll read them a little bit better.

Q. Have you had the chance to look at Pinehurst?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I haven't.

Q. I've heard it's fairly reminiscent of Shinnecock in the areas around the greens, the run offs.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it was last time. Pretty much every green is raised with run off areas. I heard it hasn't changed, a couple of new tees.

Q. You must look forward to that then.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I am. It's going to be nice. Obviously to go back and defend a U.S. Open is always nice, but I'm looking forward to doing a little better there than I did last time. I have a little more experience this time.

Q. Ernie said yesterday that he thought you would agree with him that the last round, last year, if you can follow this, was a joke.

RETIEF GOOSEN: He did?

Q. He said the course was out of control.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, unfortunately for him, you know, from sort of the first hole onwards, he got on the wrong side of the course and then you struggle; a lot of players did. You know, when you play well and you hit the right shots, any course, any shot seems possible, but when you're struggling, it's very difficult to get anything going around a course like that.

The course was probably, you know, one hole got out of control with the greens totally dying. Maybe they did go a little bit too little on the water front, but they didn't quite expect that sort of heat, breeze, to be blowing in the evenings, as well.

Q. Is that the best round you've ever played?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I would say so. Every shot was a grind out there and it probably could be the best round I've ever played, yeah.

Q. The best putting display?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, you need to wherever, you know. Whoever wins the majors or a tournament at the end of the week is normally the guy that makes the putts.

Just like I say, this week, all of the guys more or less hits the ball the same. It's just the guy that makes the putts at the end of the week that wins.

Q. How have you felt about your year so far and how you've played so far?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it's been an up and down year. I don't think I've played all that well this year as I would have liked to have played. I am struggling a little with my swing and getting a good rhythm in my swing at the moment. But I've had three weeks off now the last month, and so mentally wise I'm ready to get going. I just need to get my swing going. It gets fairly busy now from this week onwards until after the British Open, so I'm hoping that by swing will come back quick. I feel it's coming close but I'm still not quite there.

Q. That's interesting, the first thing you said was new sponsor, new swing. Are you trying something new?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, no, just mentally wise, I'm new about this tournament. (Laughing).

RODDY WILLIAMS: Retief, thanks very much. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297