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THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

September 25, 2010

Retief Goosen

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

KIN LO: Retief, thanks for coming in, great round today. You won here in 2004, a good number of top 5 finishes here. Talk a little bit about your round and how you feel going into Sunday.
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, very happy obviously with the round. Got off to a nice start birdieing the 2nd hole, and then that sort of gets you going when you birdie the first three holes, which is nice.
I played the back nine a lot better today than I did yesterday. A bit disappointing on the last hole with a bogey, but very happy with the round and the way it went. It was quite tough out there, a lot of tough putts. But I'm putting well, making a lot of good putts.

Q. Could you talk about your year? I think you've got the second-most top 10s behind Kuchar but yet you don't have a win, so I imagine that's not dismal feeling, whether you look at this as a successful year?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it's been a successful year, playing consistently-wise. I've missed one cut this year. But yeah, you really want maybe less top 10s and more wins. But yeah, it's been a good year.
You know, I was injured in April for two months with a broken finger and toe, so you never know how you're going to come back after injury, after a two-month layoff. So I was pretty lucky once I started hitting balls again that my finger really wasn't giving me any problems.
And then really from that first event I was back, I think it was Memphis, I finished 15th, and it was nice to get back into the swing of things pretty quick after the injury.

Q. The scores have been sort of all over the board today. You've had Nick Watney shoot 63, you shoot 66 and a lot of other guys have gone the other way. What is it that has caused this golf course to either be feast or famine, particularly today?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, if you drove it on the fairways, you're going to have a lot of birdie chances because the course is playing short because of the firm conditions. If you're driving it in the fairway, you've got pretty much short irons into almost every hole. Even the par-5s are all reachable. So I think the guys shooting low scores are probably hitting most fairways, and obviously they're making the putts.
I wouldn't say I've been particularly straight this week, but I've been getting it up-and-down. But the last two rounds have been more consistent. First two rounds I hit it all over the place.

Q. It's obvious you know how to win at this tournament. You've won it before. Going into tomorrow do you feel you need to tweak anything or are you happy with the way things are going with your game?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, the key would be to keep hitting the fairways, give yourself birdie chances, give yourself lots of birdie chances on this course you can shoot a good round.
I probably feel that Jim is the guy to beat. If I finish ahead of him, then I've probably got a good chance of winning.

Q. Can you talk about what your strategy is when you're on a golf course that's playing as firmly as this one is? I mean, the greens from what we hear are hard, and it's tough to hold the shots in the fairways, tough to keep the ball in them.
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I feel the golf course is set up -- obviously the weather is helping. The golf course is set up in one of the best conditions we've seen all year. There's not much rough out there, but look at the score, it's only 9-under that's leading, and it's not a particularly long golf course this week.
So I think the conditions, playing conditions, this week are just perfect. That's the way I like it and probably Jim likes it, too. You can get it to the green from the rough, but you can't really keep it on the green or get it close. But it's a perfect setup, probably the best conditioned course I've seen all year.

Q. I don't know what the calculations are for you to win the FedExCup, but I think lots of strange things have to happen. When you come into a round tomorrow, let's say, and you're trying to win the tournament, is it in the back of your mind at all that the -- the other picture with the FedExCup?
RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I'm not really thinking about the FedExCup. I want to try and win the tournament tomorrow, and whatever happens behind me happens. But I really came into the week this week not really expecting to win the FedExCup. I was not anywhere near the top 5 what everybody was talking about. So my goal was just to try and play well. It's my last chance to win this year on the PGA TOUR, and I think I've got a chance tomorrow.

Q. Will you do all the calculations when you go to the hotel room to see what has to happen?
RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I don't. I'll see what happens by the time I finish tomorrow.

Q. You'll be busy watching the Notre Dame game?
RETIEF GOOSEN: No, I won't, no. (Laughter.)

Q. I realize golf doesn't owe you anything, but do you feel like as steadily as you've played this year that you almost deserve to win tomorrow?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, you know, this game -- you don't really deserve anything in this game, you have to go out there and do it. I have to go out there tomorrow and shoot in the low 60s or mid 60s to have a chance to win, depending on the weather, who knows what the weather is going to be like tomorrow. It could be really tough, windy, and maybe an even par round of golf would be good enough to win.
But yeah, I played well this year, and it's nice to play consistently well. Yeah, and you've just got to be patient and hope it comes your way and you have a win.

Q. I'm getting old, I apologize; I can't remember how did you hurt your finger and toe exactly? Maybe you didn't say or --
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, first I kicked him, then I hit him (laughter.) No, it wasn't quite like that.
I was playing with the kids, and I was chasing them up and down the staircase and I tripped and fell and caught my finger in the railing.

Q. Pinky?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, and just broke it behind the knuckle. It was a bit of a shock.
First I kicked my toe a couple of weeks earlier, my little toe, against the side of the chair, as you do, a bed or whatever, and it was all blue. And then when that happened, it was a bit of a shock. Suddenly two months having to sit around.
I actually started playing probably two weeks earlier than what the doctor said I should play. I was sort of making one-handed golf swings. But I wanted to get back on the course.

Q. You played the U.S. Open and all those in the summertime?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, Memphis was the first one I was back. Really, Memphis and U.S. Open wasn't on the schedule, but I went for Memphis and tried, and it was okay.

Q. Does it feel like it's the end of a long year to you, or what have you got coming up?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, well, I've had a couple of months' break, as well. It's not been that long. Yeah, I still have quite a few events left this year, so I wouldn't say my year is anywhere near over. I've probably got about seven events still left this year. So still busy time ahead.

Q. Any thoughts on Ernie making the Hall of Fame?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Well, like I said earlier in the week, it's very nice to see that happen. He definitely deserves it. He's been around a long time, almost as long as me. But he's achieved a lot in the game and a well-deserved guy to get in there.

Q. What do you remember about the conditions when you won in '04? Dry, windy, soft?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, it was quite tough, as well, conditions-wise, I think. It was also a single-figure winning score, I think. So yeah, probably tough is better. It was quite firm, I remember, similar to this.

Q. Second to last group, I think, Tiger and Haas ahead of you?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah.
KIN LO: Retief, thanks for coming in. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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