Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer. He plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of the world rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, class of 2019.
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Early life
In 1969, Goosen was born in Pietersburg (now Polokwane), South Africa. He is the son of Theo Goosen, a local real estate agent, and amateur golfer who introduced the game of golf to Retief at an early age. Theo took a strict approach to parenting. "Look, I never made life easy for my kids," said Theo. "We never spoiled them. We never pleasurized them." Goosen admits that his father put pressure on him.
In 1987, Goosen was struck by lightning. He was golfing with his friend, Henri Potgieter at Pietersburg Golf Club. They were playing through a small drizzle when lightning struck Goosen. Potgieter was knocked from his feet and when he stood back up saw Retief lying on the ground on his back. Potgieter retold the story to Golf World, "I wanted to know his reaction. What I did see was his golf clubs and his golf bag. Then I saw him lying on his back. His tongue was down his throat and his eyes were backward, and he was breathing weird. He had no clothes on; they'd been burned from his body. I remember picking up his spectacles. I didn't know what to do. It looked like he was dead. I was screaming for help. Fortunately, there were guys teeing off on the 12th hole. They came running toward us. From then on, I can't remember much. They picked him up and put him in a car." Goosen's shoes had disintegrated from his feet, his underwear and watch band had melted to his body. He retains a scar on his wrist from the incident. He was unable to put his shoes on for weeks afterwards. He recovered enough to grab another set of clubs and take up the game a few weeks later. Goosen doesn't remember the events that happened, but his father took his son's survival as a sign from God of good things to come.
Amateur career
In 1990, Goosen won the South African Amateur Championship, the leading amateur competition in his country.
Professional career
Southern Africa Tour
In 1990, Goosen turned professional. During the 1991–92 Southern Africa Tour, he won one tournament and finished fifth on the Order of Merit.
European Tour
Goosen was medalist at the European Tour's Qualifying School in 1992, and had success on the Tour between 1992 and 2000, but it was not until 2001 that he made his name in America with a U.S. Open win on Southern Hills Country Club golf course. He nearly lost his chance at victory after three putting from 12 feet, missing a two foot putt on the final green, but managed to recover to make a playoff with the 1996 PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks. Goosen dominated the next day's 18-hole playoff, winning by two strokes. Later that summer, he completed his second wire-to-wire victory of the year at The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. He finished 2001 with three wins, 11 top-tens and the European Tour Order of Merit and followed it up with another in 2002. He also became the first non-European to win the Order of Merit. After his third win of the 2001 season, he rose to a career-high 11th in the world rankings. In 2002, he won on both the PGA Tour and European Tour for the second straight year, a feat that would be repeated for three more years. He won a second U.S. Open in 2004, where he had 11 one-putts in the final round at a tough test at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. He then rose to his career high world ranking position of 3rd. He won on the PGA Tour each year from 2001 to 2005 with six wins, and he added a seventh win in March 2009 at the Transitions Championship.
After winning medalist at the European Tour's Q-School in 1992, Goosen played 3 seasons before winning his first event in 1996 at the Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge. He won the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 1997 and 1998 with Ernie Els and David Frost. Goosen played in the 2000 Presidents Cup where the U.S. team won, but Goosen scored 2 points in total in his 1st appearance in the event. Goosen won four times on the European Tour between 1996 and 2000, before his breakthrough year in the United States with his 2001 U.S. Open win. Two weeks after the U.S. Open win of 2001, Goosen won on the European Tour at The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. This win secured Goosen the Player of the Month for June 2001 on the European Tour. He added another win late in the year and won the European Tour Order of Merit and the Player of the Year on the European Tour.
PGA Tour
Goosen was in contention in the U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in 2001 all week, and battled Mark Brooks and Stewart Cink during the final round. After Brooks had posted 4 under par, and Goosen was at 5 under coming up 18, Cink had a chance to win until he three-putted the 72nd hole, leaving the battle for the trophy a two-man race between Brooks and Goosen. After Goosen hit his approach to 12 feet on 18, he had 2 putts to win and victory seemed imminent. Goosen put his first putt past the hole and was left with 22 inches for victory, but pushed the second putt across the right edge of the cup and was forced to make a putt longer than the one previous to force a playoff with Brooks.
Goosen won the Monday 18-hole playoff by 2 strokes with an even-par 70 and Brooks shooting a 2-over-par 72. It was Goosen's first victory on U.S. soil. He finished 47th on the PGA Tour money list with over $1,047,000 in a restricted season shared between the PGA and European Tours.
Goosen won the European Tour Order of Merit for a second straight year for a season that included a win at the Johnnie Walker Classic by a margin of 8 strokes. He had eight other top-10s on the season, two runner-up finishes, including a 2nd place to Tiger Woods at The Masters. Goosen won the money title in the end by a slim margin over Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke. Goosen also had his second win in the U.S. at the BellSouth Classic in April on the PGA Tour.
In 2003, Goosen won his second Trophee Lancome title in its final playing. It was his lone win on the European Tour in 2003, though he had five other top-10s on the season. 2003 was the first season where he played most of his events in the United States. He picked up his 3rd tour win at the Chrysler Championship in October. His 2003 season included 17 of 19 cuts made, 9 top-10s, a win and over $3,100,000 in earnings. Goosen played in the Presidents Cup for the International team where he scored 3 points for the week that ended with a tie because Tiger Woods and Ernie Els were involved in a playoff that was not over at sundown, so captains Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus decided that the 2003 matches would be a draw.
Goosen's second major title came at the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. The USGA had prepared extremely tough conditions which were later argued by players as "unfair." The final-round scoring average of 78.7 was the second-highest since World War II, with only Goosen and Phil Mickelson finishing under par. He eventually won by two strokes over Mickelson as both men shot 1-over-par rounds of 71. Goosen had 11 one-putt greens on Sunday and 31 one-putts for the championship. He only needed 24 putts on the day in what is remembered as one of the most clutch putting performances in U.S. Open history. 2004 was the start of the "Big Five Era" which is used in describing the era in golf where Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and Phil Mickelson dominated the game of golf. The five switched up and down the top five positions in the Official World Golf Ranking; most notably Singh's derailing of Woods as the number one golfer in the world. The five stayed, for the most part in the top five spots from 2004 till the start of 2007. Nine majors were won between them many fighting against each other head to head.
PGA Tour Champions
In 2019, Goosen turned 50, started playing on the PGA Tour Champions and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. On 14 July 2019, Goosen won his first title on the PGA Tour Champions. It was a major tournament, the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. In the final round, Goosen birdied the final two holes at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, to win by two strokes over Jay Haas and Tim Petrovic. Because of issues with lockdowns, he was not invited to the next subsequent official playing of the Players Championship, as is normally offered.
On 15 January 2020, Goosen received the PGA Tour Champions Rookie of the Year for 2019. In March 2022, Goosen won the Hoag Classic on PGA Tour Champions in Newport Beach, California.
Personal life
Goosen has the nickname "The Iceman" on the PGA Tour, because of his calm demeanour. He is also called "The Goose." Goosen's mother attributes her son's calm demeanour to the effects left on Goosen after he was struck by lightning.
Retief has played in the Nelson Mandela Invitational hosted by Gary Player in South Africa, honoring former South African President Nelson Mandela. He has won the event twice, in betterball in 2000 with Allan Henning, and in 2006 with Bobby Lincoln. He also won the fourball event in 2008 with Costantino Rocca, and Alan Pearson.
Goosen owns his own vineyard in Garden Route, South Africa. The vineyard is situated 2500 feet above sea level and was deemed a great place to plant in 1993. He started growing plants on the vineyard in 2005, and labelled his wine The Goose. The Goose Expression Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz wine won the bronze medal in 2008 from the Decanter World Wide Wine. In 2009, Goosen won awards for both his Goose wines. This follows on from last year's bronze medal for The Expression Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz 2005. 2009 brought a Silver Medal each by The Decanter World Wine Award 2009 for The Expression Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz 2007 and The Goose Sauvignon Blanc 2008.
In May 2025, Goosen was part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's entourage that went to meet U.S President Donald Trump over allegations of Afrikaner genocide and persecution in South Africa.
Awards and honors
In 2001, Goosen earned the European Tour Golfer of the Year award.
In 2001 and 2002, he led the European Tour's Order of Merit.
In 2018, Goosen was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2019.
In 2019, he earned Rookie of the Year honors for the PGA Tour Champions. Goosen also earned the tour's Byron Nelson Award that year, bestowed to the player with the lowest scoring average over the course of the season.
Amateur wins
1985/86 Transvaal Amateur Team
1990 South African Amateur, Kempton Park Classic
Professional wins (41)
PGA Tour wins (7)
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
European Tour wins (14)
1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
3Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
European Tour playoff record (3–3)
Asian Tour wins (5)
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
Sunshine Tour wins (6)
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
Other wins (9)
Other playoff record (2–3)
PGA Tour Champions wins (5)
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (0–3)
Playoff record
Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)
Major championships
Wins (2)
1Defeated Brooks in an 18-hole playoff: Goosen 70 (E), Brooks 72 (+2).
Results timeline
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (2004 Masters – 2006 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (twice)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Senior major championships
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
PGA and European Tour career summary
* As of the 2021 seasons.
These figures are from the respective tour's official sites. Note that there is double counting of money earned (and wins) in the majors and World Golf Championships since they became official events on both tours.
Green background for Tour's leading money winner. Yellow background for top-10 on Tour's money list.
Team appearances
Professional
World Cup (representing South Africa): 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001 (winners), 2007
Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing South Africa): 1995, 1996, 1997 (winners), 1998 (winners), 1999, 2000
Alfred Dunhill Challenge (representing Southern Africa): 1995 (winners)
Presidents Cup (International team): 2000, 2003 (tie), 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011
Tavistock Cup (representing Lake Nona): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (winners), 2008, 2009 (winners), 2010 (winners)