The 2001 & 2004 US Open Champion Retief Goosen is one of the best golfers of his generation and is a truly global professional, holding membership on three worldwide Tours (PGA Tour, European Tour and South African Tour). In recognition of his 30 amateur wins, and for his outstanding contribution to amateur golf, he was awarded Springbok Colours before turning professional in 1990.
After adding the 2000 Tropheé Lancôme to his list of wins, 2001 saw Retief’s first win in a Major. In a dramatic 18 hole play-off he won the 2001 US Open by 2 shots. This first Major victory spurred him on to win The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and then win his third European Tour victory of the season at the Telefonica Open de Madrid. He and Ernie Els finished off the year in style by taking the World Cup in Japan for South Africa in a play-off with Denmark. This outstanding year was concluded when he was crowned 2001 European Tour Order of Merit Champion, winning the Harry Vardon Trophy, and moving into the top 10 of the World Rankings for the first time.
In the 2002 and 2003 seasons Retief notched up a further 5 wins across both the PGA, European and South African tours. 2004 saw Retief win his second US Open title at Shinnecock Hills in dramatic style. Two weeks later Retief was back in the winning circle by taking The European Open title at the K Club in Ireland. At the end of the PGA Tour season Retief won The Tour Championship by 4 shots from Tiger Woods. Retief finished the 2004 season in style at Sun City in South Africa where he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge by 6 shots.
Multiple wins followed in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. However, 2010 was a quiet year with regards to victories but his consistent play allowed him to finish 10th on the PGA Tour FedEx Standings.
The 2011 season saw Retief pick up a few minor injuries which forced him away from playing and these injuries unfortunately carried through to 2012 when his back caused him to withdraw from a number of events early on in the year but he also had some great results with a few top 10 finishes mid-way through the year. However, in August 2012, Retief went for a back operation and his recuperation went very well until unfortunately in May 2013 he picked up another back injury which took him out of play for another 6 months. Retief is now feeling that his game is back after a long time on the sidelines and is looking forward to the rest of the 2014 season.
