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FORD CHAMPIONSHIP AT DORAL

March 5, 2004

Retief Goosen

DORAL, FLORIDA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Retief Goosen to the interview room, 4 under par 68 today. Just talk a little bit about backing up your 67 yesterday with another good round.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it was pretty much the same out there today, same wind. It might have turned slightly. Pretty much a three club wind, or so. So it was just the same tough day as yesterday. Feels like on the par fives you have to try and make up your shots there because three of them are playing up downwind.

JOE CHEMYCZ: You did that with birdies on the par 5s at 1, 10 and 12. Just talk about the difficulty of a three club wind and some of the adjustments that you have to make.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it's playing tough. I mean, 18, I didn't hit my best drive but whenever you hit it down there and it's dry and somewhere in short grass, it's pretty good. And I hit 5 iron and probably went a club long. And then object No. 1 I'm hitting driver, 8 iron. So it's quite a bit of a difference.

Q. Speaking of No. 1, if you don't make a birdie on No. 1, particularly the last two days, do you feel like you're losing something to the field?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, definitely. Especially today, it was playing straight downwind. Yet was a bit more off to the right.

I mean, those holes, you really feel like you have to make 4. If you hit a good drive down there, you know it's a par 4 and you basically are trying to make 3.

No. 10 was the same. It was 2 iron, 5 iron yesterday. Today I hit it down the right side off the fairway and had to hit another 2 iron for my second.

12, I hit 2 iron into the green and 6 iron. It's playing pretty strong out there.

Q. We talked yesterday about this run of rounds you've had at par or better, is there anything, any part of your game right now that you're not happy with or that you're really working on that you're trying to change? You look like you're just smooth sailing.

RETIEF GOOSEN: I'm probably not driving it as well as I would like to. The holes into the wind today, I tend to didn't quite make good contact and putting a bit too much spin on the ball.

You know, it's going down there at the moment. I'm putting well and I feel quite comfortable with my irons. I'm hitting some good shots into the wind and cross wind. If you can keep that part of your game together, you can score.

Q. When you come in here as the highest ranked player in the field, do you feel like you're the player to beat this week?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I don't really think that way. I mean, there's so many other good players out here in this field that have won and won many times. I don't think the World Rankings has a lot to say for that.

I might be the best ranked player this week, but I know there's players out here that are playing really well and might be playing even better than me. I don't really think of it that way; that I should win the tournament because I'm the best ranked player. Obviously, I come out here to play and play my best and see if I can win the event.

Q. Speaking of guys who are playing pretty good, Phil has had no worse than seventh this year; do you know enough about his game or have you seen enough of him to see any differences between last year and this year?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, he's obviously driving the ball a lot better this year I think. I think he's cut back a little bit on his length. I think last year he got into a bit of mindset of distance and just trying to see how far he can hit it. This year, I think he's come back, he's gone back to another golf ball that goes a little bit shorter, but he feels he can control it a little bit better. And, you know, suddenly, once you start hitting fairways, you feel like you can make birdies.

Q. Your temperament, your even disposition, how does that help you when you play in difficult conditions, like an Open or when it's really blowing here, do you think it helps?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I think every player out there tries to stay quite level and not get too carried away. I played with two nice guys the first two rounds, Bob Tway and Heath Slocum, and they are as mellow as they can come. They don't get wound up about anything. Between the three of us, we felt pretty relaxed out there. (Laughter.) Really, there was no club throwing or anything like that. It was good.

Q. When was the last time you threw a club?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I've thrown them in the locker room when I'm off the golf course and nobody can see me.

No, we all have our moments and this game can get to you very quickly. I try and stay focused out there and just hit one shot at a time.

Q. Are you as peaceful inside as you look outside or is there more tumult going on than we see?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Obviously, on the inside, you know, on the outside you might look a little bit but on the inside you're nervous just like anybody else.

But at the end of the day, you're just trying to really focus on the shots. In that way, it can help under pressure situations and just calm you down a little bit when you're really focused and try and trust what you've been doing the whole time.

Q. Last question on this subject: Is that something you've developed to help your game or is that a natural disposition; are your parents pretty laid back?

RETIEF GOOSEN: No, it's something I worked on. I had a really bad temper as a junior. Before I started playing golf, I played tennis and I broke tennis racquets, like matchsticks.

Then I got into golf and I remember breaking three clubs in nine holes once. Eventually I had to start playing for a shaft and all of my pocket money then went.

Then I started working. I always felt like my golf swing was pretty much there. I just knew the mental side of the game wasn't there and I started working with Jos. I worked with Jos probably for about three years or longer, to try and get myself to focus a lot better on the golf course and also get my temperament a little bit better.

So far, it's been helping.

Q. The guys that you played junior golf with, would they be surprised at how calm you are now?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, I don't think they played with me. They were probably too scared to get hit by a club or something. (Laughter.)

I didn't play at my golf club, there wasn't that many juniors around. There was probably five of us or so. There wasn't a lot of guys that played together.

So, growing up around my golf course, it's always just somebody I played with, my brother or I went out there on my own and played. When you're a junior, you just want to get out there and play. You don't care who you play with.

Q. How much have you played with Phil? You guys have contrasting games; he's a little more aggressive at times than you seem to be.

RETIEF GOOSEN: I actually haven't played with Phil that much. I can't remember when last I played with him.

The few times I have, it's been good playing with him. I enjoy his company. He's a nice guy.

Q. Did you have any matches in the Presidents Cup against him?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, Presidents Cup we played against him and don't know who we played with actually. Might have been Davis Love, I think, in one match. We played against them, yeah. I think it was the very first match we halved against them.

Q. Early in the year you had a driver equipment problem, trying to find the right driver, I think with TaylorMade, is your driving an equipment issue or is it something other than that?

RETIEF GOOSEN: My driver is pretty much the same since I've what I've had, except I've gone to graphite shaft and gone away from the steel shaft that I used for quite a few years, three years now. This driver has been good for me. I enjoy it. You know, it's like any golf club, when you swing it well, the club is great. When you don't, it's not all that good.

Q. What's your schedule in the U.S. going to be after the Masters; do you know? How much are we going to see you in the summer?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I'm playing Hilton Head after the Masters. Then I'm taking two weeks off back to Europe and play the British Masters and then a week off and then Deutsche Bank and Volvo PGA and then coming back for Memorial.

Q. What do you have to do to win the next few days? What do you feel you have to do well to get it done?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, if it's going to be windy like this again, obviously, you're going to have to keep finding your fairways, especially the holes into the wind, to control the next shot into the green. You obviously feel like on the par 5s, you're going to have to take your advantage of some of the holes there. They seem to have started dying down a little bit in the last couple of holes, but still, that doesn't make that much difference. At some stages, it was playing very strong. On the second hole, I drove it six yards short of the green and the hole is 376 yards. It was playing pretty strong out there.

Q. Better players always talk about liking the conditions tougher, they feel like it separates the field; is there any part of that that's psychological, that you feel that you can get it done?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I think the top players feel like they would rather have the tougher golf course and tougher conditions, and not being just mainly putting contest out there.

I think I like the tougher conditions. I know if I play well, I'm going to get rewarded for it and not shoot 6 under and probably lost four shots to the field if everybody else shot 64. I prefer it when you have to grind it out there a little bit.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Thank you. Play well this weekend.

End of FastScripts.

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