Goosen returns to Southern Hills, site of his first major victory

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- This is where it all started for Retief Goosen.
In the course of a week, he went from a largely unknown South African asking Nick Price for advice to a major champion with international notoriety.
Given the chance to atone for a giant mistake on a tiny putt, Goosen conquered Southern Hills to win the 2001 U.S. Open. The PGA Championship brings him back this week to soak in the fond memories that could've easily turned sour.
"It's always nice coming back to a place where you've won," Goosen said Wednesday. "Especially a major."
Goosen's breakthrough win, his first in the United States, came only after he'd three-putted from 12 feet on the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff against 1996 PGA champion Mark Brooks. It could've easily slipped away after such a chaotic fourth-round finish, but instead he charged out to a five-stroke lead after only 10 holes in the playoff and cruised comfortably to the title.
During his final practice round Wednesday, Goosen recalled some of the shots and putts that had propelled him to the victory six years earlier. But without a Monday save, there might have been at least a cringe or two.
"It was a long week that week," said Goosen, who also won the 2004 U.S. Open. "Eight rounds of golf I played."
Goosen's week started with practice rounds that he played alongside Price, the winner of the 1994 PGA Championship -- the previous major played on the course. Price opened with rounds of 67 and 65 and went wire-to-wire for a six-stroke win and his second PGA Championship in three years.
"I think I learned a lot from what he was using off the tees and some of the places he was putting to on the greens," Goosen said. "Definitely I think I learned a bit from him that week."
It showed early as Goosen claiming a share of the lead after a rain-shortened first day. Like four of the other five players to win major championships at Southern Hills, Goosen kept at least a portion of that lead through each round.
But he left himself no wiggle room by the end of the weekend. After Stewart Cink had missed a tap-in that seemed meaningless at the time, Goosen set forth on his three-putt.
To cap a week of players struggling with the speed on the 18th green, Goosen convinced himself he needed extra oomph on his 12-footer but sent it past the hole. And then he misread a 2-footer that still would've clinched the title for him.
"I putted so well the whole week, and then the last (hole) it was a bit of a lack of focusing really and not fully concentrating on what I trying to do," Goosen said.
He was able to make the third to salvage a chance that he'd eventually convert into his big win.
Heading into this week, it's his putting that's failing him. Goosen blamed trouble reading putts for a recent funk in which he hasn't cracked the top 20 since tying with Tiger Woods for second place at the Masters in April. Goosen held the lead at the turn Sunday at Augusta National but couldn't make a birdie down the stretch.
It's been downhill from there.
"It's been pretty terrible," Goosen said. "If you can't make putts, you can't score. And then it gradually works into the rest of your game, puts more pressure on the rest of your game."
But Goosen still has good memories of the greens at Southern Hills, even if one caused him an extra headache.