Tag Archives: Retief Goosen

Goosen, Furyk Tied for Lead at Transitions

by Scott

Associated Press

The story that will be written Sunday at Innisbrook has several different plots in the making.

Story #1: Jason Dufner is only 1 shot back of the lead and in a good spot to come from behind and get his first career PGA Tour win. This week marks his 160th official start as a PGA Tour player, and he could very well end his career drought Sunday, although he will need to play better than he did on Saturday as he could only manage an even-par round of 71. Dufner is well aware of what is at stake tomorrow, but attempted to play down the talk of a long overdue win. “You know, I don’t really think about being due or not due. I know I’ve been in this position a good bit,” he said. “I’d love to have some great breaks tomorrow and make some 50-footers or hole a 7-iron or something. Maybe that would equal everything out. You know, probably not going to happen. So I’m just focused on trying to play well like I did the first two days.” Dufner’s final-round scoring average this season is 70.75, ranked 77th overall. Not bad, but he’ll need to improve upon that Sunday if he wants a shot getting that first win.

Story #2: From the “Beware of the Wounded Golfer” files: On Wednesday, Retief Goosen’s lingering back problems became so bad that he had to officially withdrew from next week’s tournament at Bay Hill so he could get protein injection therapy for his ailing back next Wednesday. Things were not looking good. Then came Saturday, as he fired the low round of the day at Innisbrook, a 6-under 65 to take a share of the lead heading into the final round. Goosen’s last win, oddly enough, came at this very tournament back in 2009, and in his mind – he’ll need to do it again Sunday to remove any doubts about earning an invite to the Masters in three weeks. “Yeah, I mean, yesterday I set my mind out here, okay, Augusta is not going to be there; I finished poorly yesterday with a double on 16 and fell way back,” Goosen said. “So you sort of tell yourself, probably going to need to shoot low on the weekend to get into the top 5 to by the end of next week stay in the top-50 in the World Rankings, and then maybe be ready for Augusta. So I withdrew, and that made me more relaxed, that you know, this is my last week, my last chance is today and tomorrow. Maybe I’m fighting for that last spot in Augusta.”

Story #3: It could be a big week for the “5-hour Energy Drink” company, as they’ll also be able to market the potential to cure hangovers. Jim Furyk’s career-best 2010 season left a lot to be desired in 2011, his worst season ever on Tour, and the hangover effect hasn’t been easy to shake. Furyk managed only 4 top-10′s last season and missed 7 cuts, and missed his first cut this season at the Honda Classic two weeks ago. His best finish this year was at the Northern Trust Open last month where he finished T11. Furyk shot 5-under 66 in Saturday’s 3rd round to get to 11-under, and shares the lead with Goosen heading into Sunday. Afterward, Furyk spoke candidly about his dismal 2011 season and the impact it had on his confidence.

“Obviously I’m pissed off. I don’t want to play poorly. I haven’t played poorly for — actually I’ve never played like I played last year on Tour,” he said. “Maybe my rookie year but I was excited, I finished 78th on the Money List, I was excited, I had a card, I had a job, I was 23 years old, couldn’t have been happier, 24. Yeah, I was excited. So last year, yeah, you’re pissed off about the way you’re playing, but I think that I’m disappointed, I was upset, I was cranky on the golf course, I was harder on my caddie, I was harder on Mike last year than I’ve ever been,” Furyk continued. “I think I’m a pretty easy guy to work for and there were times last year where I wasn’t, and I realized — I tried not to take it home. I tried when I show up at the hotel room, I try to pretty much put golf behind me, because the kids don’t know any different. You’re still dad at home, whether you shoot 79 or 59. I tried not to take it home and hopefully I didn’t but sometimes it’s hard. But I think had it happened to me probably when I was 31, or 32, and I would have had a bad year there in the middle, I would have taken it a little harder. I lived and breathed my golf a little bit more at those times. And as I got older, other things in my life have become as they should, should have been when I was 31, but there’s other things in life more important and that’s my family and my kids. You put it in perspective, and I think now I’m able to kind of at the end of the day take a deep breath and instead of focusing on, I played poorly, the focus is on, OK, what are the next steps to start playing well. That’s really what I’ve been doing for the last few months. And I needed kind of the year last year to end to be honest with you. And I had to keep playing at the end of the year, because I didn’t have a very good year and I wanted to get the World Ranking up but I needed the time off, take a deep breath and refocus my goals and what I was trying to accomplish and how was I going to go about doing that, and that I needed some time to work on that. I had about eight weeks to kind of get away, to refocus, to think about what I wanted to work on and get to work. I feel like I have not had a lot of starts, and my results maybe probably don’t look good on paper but I feel good about the way I’m playing. I’ve been playing much better golf this year than I was last year.”

I hate to say I told you so, but this all goes back to something that I questioned near the start of last season when the TaylorMade equipment deal came knocking. Furyk, like many other players before him, couldn’t turn down a lucrative endorsement deal and another 10-15 yards off the tee. He even admitted as much Saturday evening in his post-round interview.

“I drove the ball pitiful last year. That’s probably the worst driving year I’ve had. And I don’t credit it all to putting. I putted poorly last year. I drove the ball poorly last year. That’s two of the three most important parts of the game. You’re not going to score well at that point,” he said. “So I switched drivers at the end of last year in December. Started working with a Callaway driver right before Chevron and enjoyed — I liked what I saw. Started working with a different golf ball with actually Phil, when I played with him at The Presidents Cup, started using his golf ball and really liked it. Basically what I was seeing was a combination of the two products, I was creating more spin on the golf ball, and I got away from that a little bit last year. The ball launched a little bit higher and had a little less spin; I could hit it far, but I’m not a high-spin guy and because I’m a guy that wants to hit a lot of shots, hit it right-to-left, left-to-right, hit it low, hit it high, and I need spin to do that and that’s how you control the golf ball.

“I had made some mistakes and in what I was doing with my equipment and I made mistakes fitting myself equipment that I could have done better. And it was a product of maybe trying to get a little bit longer, maybe trying to find new ways to improve and maybe then hurting my strengths, if that makes sense. Trying to make my weaknesses better but in doing so, hurting your strengths, which is rule No. 1. You don’t do that.”

Hopefully it hasn’t led him down the road to no return…. a good round tomorrow will certainly go a long way to restoring his confidence and putting his senseless equipment debacle behind him.

Story #4: Someone comes from 2-3 shots back, maybe even more, to win Sunday. Sang-Moon Bae is tied with Dufner for 2nd, only a shot back of the lead. Ken Duke and John Mallinger are tied for 5th and only 2 shots back at 9-under. Chez Reavie, Ernie Els, and Luke Donald are all tied for 7th, 3 shots back. If Donald can come from behind and win tomorrow, he’ll assume the top spot in the World Rankings again. Almost a dozen players are 4 shots back at 7-under, including the following notables who can obviously turn the tide: Sergio Garcia, David Toms, Webb Simpson, and Padraig Harrington. Chris DiMarco is in that pack, and although it would be unlikely – a win would certainly go a long way to reestablishing his career again. Any number of stories could unfold. Copperhead isn’t an easy course, and crazy things happen Sunday afternoon on the PGA Tour.

I’m expecting a great finish.

For a full recap of Saturday’s action at the 2012 Transitions Championship, click HERE.

 

This Week’s PGA Tour News Items

by Scott

It’s been a slow golf news week, folks. Doing my best here to make something out of nothing…

So how exactly does one “Tweet” his way back on tour?

Some people have absolutely no shame…. as if a $100 million lawsuit that included a children’s charity wasn’t a clue? Apparently a John Daly fan has opened an account on Twitter in an attempt to start a “Grass Roots” movement to impress upon the the tournament sponsors next season of the need to have Daly in the field.  STORY

I’ve got two responses to that: (1) Grass Roots of the Cannabis type, maybe. (2) When a player has come to rely on the social media to maintain his career, he is no longer a player. He’s an opportunist.

Live rodeo coverage would be better…

So much for The Golf Channel being serious about sprucing up their coverage. TGC just announced that beginning January 3rd, they will be airing a new morning segment called “Morning Drive” that will not only focus on golf, but weather reports and other non-golf news items happening across the nation as well. Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams will be hosting the show for the 20 or so viewers who can’t find the remote to change the channel.  ARTICLE

When they ask you to captain it, that usually means you’re no longer good enough to play in it…

Rumors earlier in the year about Davis Love III being the US Ryder Cup Captain in 2012 might soon be a rumor no longer. The Golf Channel is reporting that a source close to the situation has confirmed that DL3 will be the guy leading the American charge to reclaim the Cup in the next event. The media in the UK also reported on Thursday that Jose Maria Olazabal will likely be the Captain on the European side.  ARTICLE

From the “I’ve got another one in the oven” files…

Apparently Annika Sorenstam isn’t spending EVERY ounce of her time in her golf course design business. News broke earlier this week that Sorenstam and her husband are expecting their second child early next summer. Congrats to them both!  STORY

Weir’s caddie resigns, will loop for Sean O’Hair in 2011

“I know that (Little) has to look after his family, and my situation, while I remain confident, is certainly not all that stable at the moment. He’ll be great with Sean and I predict big things for them next year.”  – Mike Weir commenting on his caddy’s decision to work with Sean O’Hair next season.

Mike Weir has always been on my “likable player” radar, and here’s just one more example of why. I’m guessing that he wasn’t expecting his caddie of 12 seasons to end their partnership and move on, but he understands the situation and holds no grudges. I hope Mike fully recovers from his injury and regains the form to be one of the top players on tour again. Best wishes in 2011, Mike.     STORY

Els, Goosen not impressed with course conditions at SA Open

Ernie, Retief…. here, let me throw you both some cheese.

I don’t doubt that the course conditions there vary greatly this week from the typical perfectly-manicured surfaces you guys play most weeks elsewhere. But if you have a complaint, do the respectful thing and keep it in-house. It’s not like you guys had to shell out $100 to play on aerated greens. I don’t blame you for being disappointed, I just don’t see the comments being made openly serving much of a purpose. ARTICLE

Camilo Villegas’ caddie heading to Nationwide Tour

You might recall earlier last month when I posted a blog about Camilo’s caddie (Brett Waldman) giving Q-school a shot. He ended up doing better than just giving it a shot…. he made it all the way to the final stage. Waldman didn’t play quite well enough to earn his PGA Tour card, but he did earn a spot on the Nationwide Tour. And that’s where he will be next season, as Camilo finds himself looking for another looper. ARTICLE


Furyk Takes Lead, Eyes Tour Championship Lottery

by Scott

The trademark stare of Jim Furyk has one eye closed and the other eye fixated on the ball heading to his intended target. Sunday could reveal two potential targets for Furyk, with the first and foremost being his third win of the season, which could give him the points needed to walk away with the $10 million FedEx Cup prize, and a potential shoe-in for PGA Tour Player of the Year honors.

But it won’t be easy. Furyk needs a little help to win the cup money. And here’s how it pans out for him. For starters, obviously he has to win tomorrow. Then he needs Matt Kuchar to finish in a four-way tie for fourth or worse, which might end up happening. The Georgia Tech grad has struggled this week at the friendly confines of East Lake, and goes into the final round tomorrow 12 shots off the lead, currently tied for 23rd place. After that, he needs Dustin Johnson to finish tied for 4th or worse, of which looks more than likely to happen. DJ is having a dismal showing this week in the Tour Championship finale, unable to break par in each of his first three rounds. He’s +7 for the event, tied for 27th.

But here’s where things start to get a little uncertain, where the ebb and flow of the final round really becomes the pressure cooker. Charley Hoffman’s round of 1-under 69 on Saturday moved him to 3-under for the event, 5 shots back of the lead. He goes into tomorrow’s round in solo 7th place. Furyk needs Hoffman to finish tied for 3rd place or worse. If Hoffman puts together a nice round Sunday, then obviously that makes things that much more iffy for Furyk.

Then Furyk also has to concern himself with Steve Stricker. Strick had his troubles in the opening round, but has battled back with 2-under par rounds on Friday and Saturday to get back to even par for the event. He’s currently 8 shots back of Furyk, but still tied for 12th overall. If Strick can somehow manage a round of 5 or 6 under par on Sunday, Furyk’s shot at $10 million dwindles considerably. If Stricker finishes in a 3-way tie for second or worse, Furyk clears the Stricker hurdle.

At that point there’s only one guy left standing to deal with – the guy who would love to take advantage of Monty’s Ryder Cup snubbage with a cool $10 million to spend over the next couple of weeks while on vacation – Paul Casey. Furyk needs Casey to finish in a tie for 2nd or worse, but Casey’s not entirely out of this himself. He’s 4 shots back of the lead heading into tomorrow’s final round, and it’s not out of the question that Casey comes away with the money, even if he doesn’t put a great Sunday round together and win. Get this – if Furyk wins the tour championship at East Lake, and Paul Casey finishes solo-second, and Charley Hoffman finishes solo third – Paul Casey wins the $10 million. How’s that for a tricked up finish?

Wow, I tell ya… this is confusing. But that’s for another discussion. If you’re really interested in reading all about the different scenarios and how it could all play out tomorrow, click HERE.

Just take my word for it  - while we might not know what exactly needs to happen tomorrow for someone in particular to win the FedEx Cup, trust that a handful of those guys who are still eyeing the prize do. Hoffman, Casey, Stricker, and Furyk will somehow each play a part in who wins. And it’s worth noting that Luke Donald isn’t out of the picture either, not by a long shot… nor is Retief Goosen.

My own observations: Finchem and company might think that their tweaking has created quite the scenario for an exciting finish of the PGA Tour season, and maybe it has. But it sure as hell hasn’t been easy to cover or explain. I might add that for me personally – give me 36 holes of matchplay… two players, the two best players from the field of 70 onward. Matchplay format at the BMW, and again at East Lake. They could do this. They could work this out. We don’t see enough matchplay on tour, and I couldn’t think of a better time for it to play out. Keep all of the confusing formulas and scenarios out of it, just work it to where you have two guys competing for the money. Tomorrow I will be so wrapped up in trying to figure out how in the hell the story is gonna end, that I’m not going to be able to fully enjoy watching the plot unfold.

Someone’s gonna say, “watching Ben Crane play Martin Laird for $10 million just ain’t gonna reel in the ratings.” Well, oh well…. Where’s Tiger this week? He’s not here. How about Mickelson? He’s here, but doesn’t have a chance in hell. He’s not gonna get much coverage on Sunday. The two top players in the world and they’re non-factors. What’s the difference? Give us something we can at least appreciate as fans of the game, not fans of one or two players. Well, that’s my take anyway.

SATURDAY ACTION AT EAST LAKE, PGATOUR.COM RECAP