Door Open for Goosen, Closed to Others

Say this about U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen: He chose a good time to have the tournament of his life.

Say this about David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia: They chose a bad time to play poorly.

While many were trying to rouse the understated Goosen from his sleep-inducing victory speech, the buzz was that the 32-year-old South African would decide to take the next big step and play the PGA Tour in 2002.

It seems like sound strategy, arming him with a five-year exemption, a 10-year guarantee into the U.S. Open and a five-year invitation to the Masters. If he is serious about making it big, then Goosen should do just that because he would be following the path of countryman Ernie Els, whose first PGA Tour win was also the U.S. Open.

That’s about where the similarities between Els and Goosen end, though. And forget about their personalities. Neither is demonstrative, but Els looks as if he’s doing stand-up compared to Goosen.

On the course, Els is a bomber and Goosen a precision player who can scramble and putt (no matter what he did Sunday). It’s worth remembering that Els had four top 10s in majors before he won the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Goosen had missed the cut in five of his last seven majors until he teed it up at Tulsa.

It’s possible that Goosen will become a major force, but he has won only five times since his first full year on the European PGA Tour in 1993. Insiders say he has been an underachiever.

Meanwhile, we’re still trying to sort out the cases of Duval, Mickelson and Garcia, who didn’t exactly take advantage of the absence of Tiger Woods in the chase Sunday.

It was almost as though they were having a contest to find out who could finish worst. If so, Garcia won with a 77.

Mickelson shot a 75 and Duval a 74. Even though Jim Furyk isn’t quite there yet in this Lofty Expectations Group, he failed to distinguish himself with his 82.

Someone is going to have to explain how players so talented can finish so badly, then talk afterward as though it were no big deal. The Big Three risked pulled muscles as they were bending over backward to express their extreme lack of disappointment.

Imagine how much more refreshing it would have been if someone had. And the way things are going for these three, they are certainly getting enough practice.

Scenes From the Open

Mark Brooks being interrupted as he is shoving dirty clothes into a laundry bag in the locker room early Sunday evening and told to slow down, that the tournament isn’t over, that there will be a playoff the next day and, surprise, he’s in it. (Can’t he afford laundry service?)

Garcia posing in front of a mirror in the locker room early Sunday afternoon, shaping the bill of his cap into exactly the proper rounded fit, then positioning the cap until it’s perfectly snug. If he had taken any longer, he would have missed his tee time. (Since he shot 77, maybe he should have considered it.)

Darren Clarke melting down Friday night when he twice asked to stop playing because of darkness and twice was told to keep playing, then knocking two balls into the water on No. 13 for a triple bogey, just before--you guessed it--play was suspended for the night. (Pack a flashlight next time.)

Mickelson facing the music Sunday after his closing round of 75, putting his best smiling face forward and saying even though he’s 0 for 36 in majors, he is not going to beat himself up about it. (Rest assured there are plenty who will do it for him.)

Tom Kite closing with a 64 and then chastising reporters for writing too much about Tiger. (He was kidding, right?)

Hal Sutton dropping golf balls on the 18th green Monday in his practice round and then dropping his jaw as he watches the balls roll back down the slope as if they were on some sort of slippery green slide. (They were.)

Woods setting what was possibly a new land speed record getting off the course and out of Tulsa after finishing his round Sunday. (He was actually heading for the nearest drive-through for a burger.)

The Tulsa World running a front-page story about how out-of-towners are impressed by the city and quoting one admirer of the skyline, “We sure don’t have anything like this in Wichita.” (Yeah, these things are pretty much limited to Tulsa.)

Goosen saying in his victory speech that he wasn’t at all affected by his mind-bending three-putt on the 18th hole Sunday that prevented him from winning a day earlier than he did. (Let’s hear him say this if he had to play a sudden-death playoff with Brooks on Sunday.)

Our Mr. Brooks

It already has been a busy week for the U.S. Open runner-up, who began his post-tournament time by bumping another car in the hotel parking lot on his way out of Tulsa.

That was no big deal, just a fender bender, but Brooks’ play at the Open was another story. He received so many messages, his cell phone fried, but that doesn’t mean Brooks was talked out.

Brooks is seldom speechless, so when he was asked about the 18-hole playoff format, he was his usual opinionated, outspoken self.

“I don’t know if I’m one of those one-holers, where you play sudden death,” he said. “I think the British Open has kind of got it right, four holes.

“But I do think we should have played it Sunday.

“Think about it. Everybody is already there. The volunteers are there, the galleries are there, the TV is there. It already has big drama. We spent a week building it up. And you wouldn’t necessarily lose it on one break.

“It’s the right format. I wish the USGA would use it. What we had was kind of anticlimactic.”

Brooks said his comments are not meant to be sour grapes and he didn’t blame the format for his two-shot loss to Goosen in Monday’s 18-hole bonus playoff day.

However, it also should be pointed out that the greenskeepers at Southern Hills were watering the putting surfaces Sunday after the last group played through, apparently under the impression there would be no playoff.

As a result, what happened in the playoff is that the conditions changed, the greens were slower and they tended to be more receptive.

Brooks said he should have noticed and made the adjustments.

“I should have been more aggressive early on,” he said. “Of course, it was hard to later, from where I was hitting the ball in the rough.”

Tiger Update

You may notice this weekend at the Buick Classic that the corporate Mr. Woods has undergone a tweaking at the behest of one of his main sponsors, General Motors Buick Division.

The new 2002 Buick Rendezvous, a sports utility vehicle, is being advertised on Woods’ golf bag. The car is mentioned on his bag, and there is a red stripe at the collar and at the base of the bag.

Still available: Potential spots for sponsors on Woods’ earlobes and fingernails.

The Skin-ny

News item: Promoters of the Skins Game hope that Woods’ deal with Disney will mean he plays the event again, for the first time in four years.

Reaction: You bet they are, with Colin Montgomerie the defending champion.

One Last Tiger

From the It Had to Happen Dept.: Woods’ record PGA Tour streak of 34 consecutive events under par (his streak was 40 in worldwide stroke-play tournaments) ended at Southern Hills.

But in his PGA Tour streak, Woods was a combined 453 under par--an average of 13.3 under--and he won 18 times.

Mr. Kite

Kite’s tie for fifth at Southern Hills was the best by a player 50 or older since 63-year-old Sam Snead tied for third in the 1973 PGA.

Stay Tuned

In a battle of Ryder Cup captains, 46-year-old Curtis Strange defeated 47-year-old Sam Torrance by three shots this week in a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf match at Carnegie Abbey in Portsmouth, R.I.

The match was taped and won’t be shown on ESPN until Oct. 2, the week after the U.S-Europe Ryder Cup matches, so we’ll have to see if what Strange said afterward about camaraderie actually came true.

Said Strange: “My 12 guys are going up against their 12 guys on the course and then we’ll all go have a beer at the victory dinner on Sunday night.”

Is It Laura Land?

Nothing against the rest of the field, but here’s hoping that Laura Davies wins the McDonald’s LPGA Championship this week at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., because if she does, she makes the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Davies, 38 in October, is two points shy of the LPGA’s revamped Hall of Fame requirements and a victory in the major puts her in.

A point in her favor: Davies can get a lot of use out of her driver at DuPont Country Club, where she won in 1994 and 1996 and also in 1993, when the tournament wasn’t a major.

Birdies, Bogeys, Pars

The Israel Humanitarian Foundation’s California Challenge will be played July 9 at Valencia Country Club. The event benefits Cure Autism Now and Israel’s Society for Autistic Children. Details: (888) 732-5391.

The Las Vegas Senior Classic doesn’t have a title sponsor for 2002 and promoters fear it’s going to be out of business after 17 years.

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The Top 5

The top five moments affecting Retief Goosen’s golf career:

1. Wins the U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff at Southern Hills Country Club.

2. Struck by lightning as 16-year-old amateur and is slow to recover.

3. Breaks arm in skiing accident in Switzerland before 1999 season but comes back to tie for 10th at British Open.

4. Hooks up with Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, wins the Perrier Open in playoff.

5. Gets putting tip from Nick Price and wins 2000 Lancome Trophy.