Retief Tells It Like It Is

Remember the gripe fest the U.S. Open turned into two years ago at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club? Several golfers, including Tiger Woods, went off on the United States Golf Association and complained that the course played way too harshly on the last two days of the tournament. Their chief complaint was the greens were fast as Lightning McQueen. When the tournament ended, the course made more news for its stinginess than the U.S. Open's winner Retief Goosen did for his unruffledness Goosen conducted a putting exhibition on the final day at Shinnecock to win the tournament at four-under par.

Funny thing, nobody seemed to be complaining too much this year about the conditions at Winged Foot Golf Club, where Geoff Ogilvy won the event at five-over par. Goosen, meanwhile, failed to make the cut.

In a conversation with Golfdom recently, Goosen said Winged Foot’s greens were more challenging to play than Shinnecock’s.
“They were much more bumpier and not nearly rolling as true as they were at Shinnecock,” he said.

Make no mistake: Goosen said he’s not complaining about Winged Foot’s setup. “I like Winged Foot; I like all U.S. Open setups,” Goosen said.

Reflecting on his win at Shinnecock, Goosen said there shouldn’t have been such an uproar over the course’s setup.

“I don’t think they went over the top there,” he said.

Easy for him to say, you say? Well, Goosen has the right to say it.