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BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2004

Retief Goosen

ROYAL TROON, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Retief Goosen at 70 for 139. Retief, it seems to be the place that players find the conditions much tougher today. Do you find that?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, definitely. I don't think it's anything like yesterday morning. But it was very cold this morning and the wind is playing stronger and more across the golf course, which makes it quite difficult. You're not really playing any holes straight downwind or straight into the wind, so it's tough to get the right shape to hit the right shot.

Q. Given that, given that it's harder, are you happier when the course plays as tough as it can?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I suppose so. When it's tougher, the better players will come to the top. I'm happy with my round today. I didn't play all that well on the back nine, but I made a few good up-and-downs, especially 17 and 18, which sort of kept my round together.

Q. Sometimes after somebody wins a major championship it's kind of hard to get your feet back on the ground and get focused again. You obviously seem to have done that this time. I wonder what you've learned about how to handle the aftermath of winning a major and moving on to the next thing?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, yes, that is tough. It's never easy to keep going following a major. But I had a week off last week to sort of recover. I'm looking forward to this week. And I'm in a position to play well on the weekend and I think I won't be far off the lead come the end of the day. A lot of golf to be played this weekend but I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You know as well as anybody you need luck to win a major. Have you had any breaks the first two days where things have gone your way or you've saved yourself from a precarious position?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Today, actually, on the first few holes every time I missed a fairway, I didn't have a lie at all or hit it in a bunker I couldn't get near a pin. I would say on 17 it was the only hole I made a good putt to save par probably from 20, 25 feet. So after I hit a poor chip shot from right of the green, otherwise obviously 18 I had a good bunker shot.

And I would think No. 9 was a good save. I missed the green left down the bank and chipped to about 10 feet and holed a good putt there for par.

Q. And at 15 you had a poor lie in the rough, didn't you?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, 15 I hit it left and I had no lie, really. I was just trying to chop it on the fairway and it actually came out right and went over the fairway right on the other side and hit a nice little half wedge to five feet. So that was nice to walk away with par there, as well. Like I say the last few holes it was nice to get away with pars and stay in the hunt.

Q. We've just had Michael Campbell in here talking about how he falls in and out of love with the game. Does the same apply to you or do you manage to keep a consistent level of affection for it?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I think it's the same for everybody. When you play well, you like it; when you don't, you hate it. It is a tough game, as we know, or we know, I don't know about you guys, but we know it's tough. When you're not playing well it's easy to -- it's not easy to lift yourself and be motivated and keep practicing and waiting for it to start happening again.

So it is a tough game to keep playing well all the time. You're always going to have your little slump area where you're playing bad.

Q. If you had thought earlier in your career you would have won two majors, did you think they would be two U.S. Opens? And if so, why?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I always thought maybe The Open would be the first one I could win, just purely because I played in Europe, and played a lot of these courses. And then I always felt maybe Augusta. In a way I liked Augusta, I thought I could do well around there. It just happened to be the U.S. Open. I'd take any of the four. I'm not really going to be choosy, which one I would like to win.

Q. Did you think there was anything particular about your game that suited an Open Championship?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Not really. I don't consider myself a great wind player, but I don't know, in a way I feel I can get it around this type of golf course.

Q. Are you still actively chasing another Order of Merit title? How important is that to you?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, yeah, obviously I would like to win the Order of Merit again. But that just comes with winning events. You've just got to keep playing well in the big ones and try and move up that way and by the end of the year see if you can win it that way. But I'm definitely focusing on trying to win it again, yes.

Q. Did you consider, though, not rejoining the European Tour and concentrating solely on the American circuit?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, not at all. I'm not planning on leaving the European Tour at all.

End of FastScripts.

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