{"id":648115,"date":"2026-06-20T01:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T01:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/648115\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T01:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T01:02:11","slug":"a-past-shinnecock-winner-surveys-the-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/648115\/","title":{"rendered":"A past Shinnecock winner surveys the scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"Retief Goosen Chris Turvey, Rolex<\/p>\n

SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK | Long after the fog had lifted to reveal a lowering sky punctuated occasionally by patches of blue, Retief Goosen settled in his seat in a hospitality unit overlooking the 17th hole at Shinnecock Hills. As he cast his mind back to the 2004 U.S. Open at the highly regarded course far out on the east end of Long Island, a smile spread slowly over his suntanned face. Little wonder. That was the year he won his second U.S. Open, three years after his first, at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

In 2004 Goosen held a clear lead after 54 holes with Ernie Els, his countryman, and Phil Mickelson two strokes behind. Els double-bogeyed the first hole and never got back into contention. Mickelson took the lead on the 16th only to three-putt the 17th from 5 feet for a double bogey. \u201cPhil made a mistake, I didn\u2019t. Lucky for me,\u201d Goosen, 57, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great coming back to a place where you have always won,\u201d Goosen continued. \u201cI would have loved to have been inside the ropes today and I did think about trying to qualify but then I thought, \u2018No, I\u2019ve done that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked out of the window down onto the fourth green which, even from his eyrie of perhaps 30 feet above ground, still looked enormous and forbidding.\u00a0 Moments earlier Rory McIlroy had recovered from an off-line second shot that ended 25 yards to the right of the putting surface to scramble for a par. One playing partner, Tommy Fleetwood, clad all in brown, holed on this green for a birdie.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By now the flags were fluttering in a strong wind that had blown away all traces of the fog that caused the start of the first day\u2019s play to be delayed by two hours. \u201cI\u2019ve got great memories of here,\u201d Goosen said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember all the shots \u2013 just the good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were more than a few of those, particularly his 11 single putts in his fourth round. In a TV interview during the morning\u2019s fog delay P\u00e1draig Harrington had commented on Goosen\u2019s skill on the greens. \u201cIt was one of the greatest putting rounds ever,\u201d Harrington said.<\/p>\n

The Irishman also singled out Goosen\u2019s calmness and cast of mind that week, noting how composed he seemed even after a bad shot. On hearing this Goosen said: \u201cThank you very much. That\u2019s quite a compliment from a guy who has won three majors, but it\u2019s true. At the time I did have a good mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got there at the beginning of the week I felt very comfortable. In my Monday practice round I liked the whole thing. On Thursday and Friday the greens were fine and on Saturday and Sunday they flipped around. They were very tricky. At the weekend it was all about hanging on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working hard on the mental side of the game at that time and really played some great golf in that period. Everybody on the driving range hits it 300 yards and\u00a0 one guy shoots 64 and another guy shoots 74 so yes, there is quite a mental aspect to it. Some of the greatest players in the world have had great minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"2004 U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen Timothy A. Clary, AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

At this he paused and smiled. \u201cIt was 22 years ago, though. I haven\u2019t the patience anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goosen was blessed with a build to withstand wind and a mind to repel adversity. Little disturbed him then and he gives every impression that little disturbs him now. At his best his swing was slow and elegant, his walk that of a man strolling along the seafront without a care in the world. And his putting stroke was smooth as silk, precise and firm. Everything about him was of a piece \u2013 quiet and understated. Even when he holed his putt for victory 22 years ago he did little more than smile, take his cap off and wave.<\/p>\n

Who will join him this week as the sixth winner of a U.S. Open at one of the country\u2019s most distinguished and feared courses? Goosen should know better than most. \u201cI am leaning towards a lower ball-flighting guy, somebody who can really knock it down. Brooks [Koepka] and Gary Woodland can really hit it low for example. Rory [McIlroy], obviously he knows everything about this kind of weather. These guys are really performing. They can hook it and fade it up against this wind.\u201d As Goosen spoke, McIlroy moved to 3-under par before finishing one under.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the week I thought Cameron Young was a good shot. He was playing well and has a large amount of patience. He looks calm and as though nothing fazes him on a golf course. Scottie [Scheffler] is similar. He doesn\u2019t show a lot on a golf course. He makes a lot of birdies. A lot depends on the wind. Someone who is under [par] now might find that is the winning score. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

He tugged at the left sleeve of his sweater to reveal one of the prizes he received for his first U.S. Open victory, the one at Southern Hills. It was a Rolex watch and it marked the start of his 25 years as a testimonee for that company. When he took it off you could see the words engraved on the back: U.S. Open champion 2001. \u201cNot bad is it?\u201d he said in that slow way of his. \u201cNot bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Retief Goosen Chris Turvey, Rolex SOUTHAMPTON, NEW YORK | Long after the fog had lifted to reveal a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,218211,101,125285,56,54,55,55529],"class_list":["post-648115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-retief-goosen","tag-sports","tag-u-s-open","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-usga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}