South African Retief Goosen admits he is not playing well enough to turn golf’s ”Big Four” into the ”Big Five”.
Despite two US Open championships to his name, Goosen has arrived at Augusta National searching for the game that has taken him to fifth in the world rankings behind Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
”I’m not playing as well as I would like,” said Goosen on Tuesday. ”I need to start hitting the ball a little bit more consistently, and club selection has not been that great either. Throwing in a bad round, that doesn’t help.”
In a bid to make the turnaround he needs, Goosen has even changed his clubs.
”Since the end of last year, I played with the new TaylorMade RAC irons and played okay but for some reason I’ve found some inconsistency.
”Sometimes I felt like I hit a good shot and it wasn’t even near the green.
”I actually went back to my old clubs … so we’ll see if that helps me a little bit with club selection,” he explained.
Goosen knows that his swing is not the same that took him to victory at Shinnecock Hills and his second US Open last year.
”Since Bay Hill [last month], my rhythm and timing has been a bit out. It’s the thing I’ve been struggling with the most the past three weeks.
”Getting a little bit quicker at times … I need to focus on that this week,” he said.
But Goosen refuses to dismiss his chances of collecting his third major this week.
”I get around this course and I know what shots are required. I might hit the ball great this week. That’s what you need to do, just that one week, to hit the ball well.
”Inside, I’m confident. I know I can do it and play well. But at the moment, the golf swing is just not allowing it.
”In a way, it’s a bit of a worry but like I say, once you get out there on Thursday and you stand over the ball, you know what shots you have to hit and just have to get down and do it.
”So your mental approach and your whole swing thoughts and keys will probably just come back,” said Goosen.
Then he warned ominously: ”I’m not very far from where I was when I went to Shinnecock.”
The ”Big Four” of Woods, Els, Mickelson and Singh have been warned. — Sapa-AFP