Article by Steve Newell, Electric Sports - Mad about Golf

I LIKE Retief Goosen, I can tell you he's one of the most genuine people in the game of golf.

A stand-up guy, as they say. He's modest, quietly spoken and very likeable. And he loves sports cars - usually the very fast two-seater variety - which always gets the major thumbs-up from me!

But above all he can really play. I still tell anyone who cares to listen that he hit the best shot I have ever witnessed, albeit only in a Pro-Am, an epic, towering four-iron that pierced the grey Woburn skies like a tracer bullet and came to rest only six feet or so from the flag.

I've honestly never seen a golf ball travel on quite the same trajectory - it was magnificent. I was playing with him that day and would have said 'great shot' but I think my lower jaw had taken up residence on the fairway.

Anyway, evidence of Goosen's huge talent has been sadly lacking of late. Not so long ago, he was challenging in Major championships on a regular basis and looking like adding to his collection of two US Open titles.

He also climbed as high as No. 3 in the official world rankings. The last few years have been a struggle, though, and he even dropped outside the world's top 40.

'It's never easy when you've played well and you're struggling all of a sudden,' he said recently.

'Obviously, it's frustrating. You know you can hit the shots, but it's not happening.'

The good news is there are distinct signs of improvement in Goosen's game. He won in Malaysia last year and again in the South Africa Open in December.

Of course those were not the biggest wins of Goosen's career, but they were significant all the same. They represented a marked step in the right direction.

Early bath

And despite taking an early bath in this week's Accenture Match Play Championship, losing in the first round to fellow countryman Tim Clark, he had played well at the recent Pebble Beach International, leading the field after two rounds courtesy of a stunning 64.

One of the problems of not playing well for a long period, though, is a collapse of confidence and so it proved in the third round when he struggled and fell out of contention. Unfortunately for him the final round was then abandoned, giving him no chance to make amends.

Goosen doesn't say much, but what he does say usually has meaning, and he stayed true to form after that miserable third round.

'It was a terrible round of golf,' he told the assembled media.

'I played poorly tee to green - everything was out of sorts. My timing of my golf swing was bad. I kept hitting it left and right, which is not good.'

Yep, that just about covered it!

This was in the very same month that Goosen turned 40. He freely admitted to feeling a bit blue at the prospect of leaving his 30s behind, but in all honesty he has no reason to be overly gloomy.

He has worked hard on his fitness of late and is back in great shape again. And he has only to look around him on Tour to see what is possible.

Vijay Singh has won 22 PGA Tour events since turning 40. Mark O'Meara won his two Majors at 41. And Kenny Perry, positively ancient at 48 years of age, has won four times on the PGA Tour in as many months.

So there should be plenty more left in the tank, so to speak. He has such a natural gift that I think his sublime ball-striking will stay with him. It is just a matter of time and a bit of confidence.

More questionable, I suppose, is Goosen's putting, which went very cold on him. He's switched to the belly-putter, though, and that seems to have improved his fortunes somewhat.

This Goose isn't cooked yet.

Steve Newell is an experienced golf writer who has worked with many of the world's leading players and teachers, and has written several books on golf. He now works primarily for top golfer Ernie Els.

Mar 3, 2009