He Plays to Beat of Open’s Pulse

PINEHURST, N.C. —  When Retief Goosen won last year’s U.S. Open, Johnny Miller said he was surprised. But not because it was some sort of fluke.

“Because he has no apparent pulse,” Miller said.

It’s an exaggeration, of course, because Goosen’s heart does pound, even if it sometimes seems he is in danger of falling asleep while standing up. Maybe it’s just the tempo, the monotonous flow of golf balls falling into the hole after Goosen has tapped them, the putting equivalent of counting sheep.

Goosen won at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y., with a closing one-over 71 on a treacherous layout, dried out like beef jerky and just as tough. There was no meltdown on Goosen’s part, unlike his playing partner and fellow South African Ernie Els, who shot 80. At least Els had company. Nearly half the field -- 28 of 62 -- shot 80 or higher.

At the same time, Goosen remained unflappable. He needed only 24 putts, one-putting 11 greens. It was, according to Miller, perhaps the greatest putting exhibition of all time, under the conditions. As the greens baked and the scores soared, Goosen did what he does best. He remained calm.

And now, with the U.S. Open and its trials and tribulations beginning Thursday at the terror-packed Pinehurst No. 2 course, it would appear that Goosen’s relaxed approach might come in handy again.

“He’s very quiet, I mean mentally,” sports psychologist Bob Rotella said. “He’s relaxed, at ease. He reminds me sort of like Ben Hogan, not with the stare or glare, but by being calm.

“Nothing fazes him. You want to be like still water. You want to have peace and calm.”

That’s not easy at the U.S. Open, where there is always enough pressure to suck the air out of your lungs. But Goosen says he is ready for the challenge, even though he’s not always as composed as he may appear.

“I’m more composed when I’m winning. Not that composed when I’m not winning,” he said. “You’re always trying hard out there, trying to win. I worked on it, just trying to get concentration.

“It’s all about concentration around the course. Everybody hits the ball the same on the driving range. Once you’re out on the course, it’s how you control your emotions under pressure.”

Goosen, 36, is no stranger to the pressure of winning golf tournaments. He’s won 22 of them worldwide, five on the PGA Tour, including the 2001 U.S. Open and the 2004 U.S. Open, plus last year’s Tour Championship.

His best showing this year was a tie for third at the Masters, but he’s also had a second, a third and a tie for 11th on the European Tour, which probably means that if Goosen is cooking, he’s a threat to win the U.S. Open a third time.

Dick Coop, a sports psychologist who worked with Payne Stewart when Stewart won the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, says Goosen resembles Stewart in his mental approach to playing a major.

“When Payne played his best, he was very patient, and that’s very important in major championships,” Coop said. “At the U.S. Open, you have to play the plain vanilla shot and not the high-profile shot, like Mickelson’s flop or Tiger’s stinger. Payne had that quality, and Goosen seems to have it too.

“He also strikes me as someone who is very comfortable flying under the radar. He doesn’t put pressure on himself, and that helps in times of high stress. Plus, he’s in a great position, because he knows he can win. That doubt is removed.”

Goosen admits there were doubts, going back a long way. He was a product of South Africa’s junior golf system and was as highly regarded a prodigy as Els. But as a teen, Goosen was struck by lightning and had to cope with health problems that affected his progress.

He turned pro in 1990 and played the South African Tour, but didn’t win a European Tour event until he was 27. Many of those who watched Goosen in those years regarded him as an underachiever or someone who couldn’t stomach the heat.

Then he met Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, whose task was to boost Goosen’s confidence. Vanstiphout coaxed Goosen to victory over Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla., after Goosen had missed a short putt on the 72nd hole that would have won it the day before.

Vanstiphout no longer works with Goosen, but Els is still a client and, like Goosen, Els has won two U.S. Open titles. Goosen remains a spokesman for positive thinking through psychology.

“If you need to take your game to the next level, psychology may be the way to go,” he said. “I always felt like my golf swing and all that stuff was sort of there, but I was lacking, maybe, focusing on the golf course.”

What Goosen may need to do now is focus again on his putting -- his average is 38th this year after ranking 11th last year.

Then again, maybe he has the goods right now. That’s the direction Rotella is leaning.

“Retief has a very good mind-set for major championship golf, so good at downplaying everything,” he said. “The putting exhibition last year at Shinnecock, given the conditions of the greens and the pressure, just unbelievable. He just kept making them.

“It’s a lot harder if you’ve got a really excitable personality. It’s so easy to get emotional about it. Time is so limited. The Olympics is probably once in a lifetime, majors are only four times a year, so as an athlete, you just don’t get that many chances.”

Goosen gets another chance this week at Pinehurst, and chances are good that he’s not going to get emotional.

That would lower his relaxation level, raise his blood pressure, bring on a headache and make him worry. Very un-Goosen-like behavior.

Actually, he probably should be thinking two words right now: “still water.” Goosen might not end up winning, but even if he doesn’t, he will stick to his game plan and remain calm at all times. It’s worked so far for him.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Smoothing out

How Retief Goosen has fared in the U.S. Open, which runs Thursday through Sunday in Pinehurst, N.C.:

*--* YEAR FINISH YEAR FINISH 1998 Missed cut 2002 Missed cut 1999 Missed cut 2003 Tie 42nd 2000 Tie 12th 2004 1st 2001 1st

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