Goosen survives 'scary' greens at Transitions Championship
The greens were so crusty, firm and scary fast that Retief Goosen felt as though he was back at Shinnecock Hills, where his putting carried him to victory in the U.S. Open.
Needing only 2 putts from 25 feet to win Sunday, he was thankful it didn't turn out like Southern Hills.
Goosen ran his putt 5 feet past the hole, steadied his nerves and curled in the par putt for a 1-shot victory at the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., his first victory on the PGA Tour in nearly four years.
"It was great to see that putt go in," Goosen said. "The greens got scary. Down those last few holes, they were definitely getting like Shinnecock was. You just cannot hit them soft enough. It was really tough."
Goosen closed with 1-under 70 to avoid a playoff with Brett Quigley and Charles Howell III, an Augusta, Ga., native who can only return to the Masters with a victory.
Both had a birdie putt in the groups ahead of Goosen to catch him. Both ran it well past the hole and made it coming back.
"You're in the back of the tub trying to stop it short of the drain," Quigley said describing the putt they all had.
Equally famous in Goosen's career was a 3-putt bogey from 12 feet on the final hole at Southern Hills, which nearly cost him the 2001 U.S. Open until he won it the next day in an 18-hole playoff.
"It was disappointing to hit it that far past. I didn't want to have another U.S. Open there," Goosen said.
Former Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, trying to become the seventh player in his 50s to win on the PGA Tour, did not make a birdie until a long putt on the 17th hole, and he shot a 75 to tie for eighth.
Goosen won twice in the fall in South Africa and Asia, but this was his first PGA Tour victory since he won the now-defunct International in August 2005.
"Eventually, you wonder if you can still do it," Goosen said.
Lehman, who turned 50 two weeks ago, had a 1-shot lead going into the final round as he tried to become the first ex-Ryder Cup captain since Tom Watson in 1998 to win on the PGA Tour.
He hit a poor chip on the second hole that led to bogey and cost him the lead. That led to a revolving door of challengers, with five players atop the leaderboard at various points during the final round.
But the back nine was more about hanging on than forging ahead.
And for so many, it was about falling apart.
Steve Stricker rallied from a four-shot deficit to tie for the lead, but he couldn't sustain it. After two solid par saves, he flew the green from a bunker on the par-3 17th for bogey, then missed the green from the middle of the 18th fairway and made another bogey. He closed with a 69 and tied for fourth.
It was the third time this year Stricker had the lead on the back nine and failed to win.
Mastercard Classic: Pat Hurst shot a 4-under 68 to beat top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and Yani Tseng by 1 stroke at the LPGA Tour's Mastercard Classic in Huixquilucan, Mexico.
Hurst sank a long putt on the 18th green at the tough BosqueReal Country Club to finish at 10-under 206. Top-ranked Ochoa (69) had 3 bogeys and 6 birdies, and Tseng (70) had 3 bogeys and 5 birdies.
Hurst won $195,000 for her first victory since the Safeway Classic in 2006.