In his own modest, unassuming, no-nonsense kind of way, Retief Goosen has made an impression whenever and wherever he’s played. And like his fellow countryman, the legendary South African Gary Player, he’s teed it up in an awful lot of places. All four corners of Planet Golf, in fact.
Aided by one of the silkiest and stylish swings in golf, the 53-year-old has played and won all over the globe, including nine times on both the European Tour and Sunshine Tour back home in South Africa, plus another five victories on the Asian Tour. The highlights of his career have come in America with seven wins on the PGA Tour, highlighted by two stunning U.S Open victories in 2001 at Southern Hills and 2004 at Shinnecock Hills.
Even the modest Goosen would admit that it’s a pretty decent return for a youngster who taught himself to play the game by studying books by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, and the results were enough to earn him his 2019 induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. It’s a return made even more impressive by the fact Goosen was struck down by lightning mid-round in his teens – you could argue he’s a man who shouldn’t even be here.
But here he most certainly is, and we caught up with him in Orlando, Florida, to recount the highs and lows of a glittering career and a life well lived …
I was 16 when I first felt that I wanted to be a pro golfer. I loved the game and there weren’t mobile phones and all the other distractions around then. It was golf, golf, golf. It was always going to be the thing and I was lucky because things happened early in my career. I played well, made money and started winning, and it went from there.
