Information on South African Golfer Retief Goosen - The Golf Club - South African Golf Tours

Retief Goosen (born February 3, 1969)

Goosen was born in Pietersburg (now Polokwane), South Africa. His amateur career was briefly interrupted when he was struck by lightning at the age of 16. He turned professional in 1990, following a win in the South African Amateur Championship of the same year. His main achievements since have been two U.S. Open wins (in 2001 and 2004), and heading the European Tour Order of Merit (money list) in 2001 and 2002.

Since 1995, Goosen has been one of the most consistent players in the world: he has won internationally every year since 1995, and also won a PGA Tour event every year from 2001 to 2005. Additionally, he has spent a long period of time in the top 5 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and in 2006 reached a career-best third place.

Goosen is known for his extremely calm demeanor, a trait that has earned him the nickname "The Iceman" on the PGA Tour. He is also being affectionally called "The Goose". He further enhanced his reputation as a steely competitor at the 2004 U.S. Open, where he mastered Shinnecock Hills' extremely fast (and arguably unfair) greens, draining clutch putt after clutch putt.

Tournament Wins

PGA Tour wins (6)
2001 (1) U.S. Open
2002 (1) BellSouth Classic
2003 (1) Chrysler Championship
2004 (2) U.S. Open, The Tour Championship
2005 (1) The INTERNATIONAL

European Tour wins (13)
1996 Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge
1997 Peugeot Open de France
1999 Novotel Perrier Open de France
2000 Trophée Lancôme
2001 U.S. Open, The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, Telefonica Open de Madrid
2002 Johnnie Walker Classic
2003 Trophée Lancôme
2004 U.S. Open, Smurfit European Open
2005 Linde German Masters
2006 South African Open (played in December 2005)
Goosen's two U.S. Open wins are repeated here because the three major championships played in the U.S. have been part of the European Tour's schedule since 1998.

Other wins (13)
1991 Iscor Newcastle Classic
1992 Spoornet Classic, Bushveld Classic, Witbank Classic
1993 Mount Edgecombe Trophy
1995 Phillips South African Open
2002 Dimension Data Pro-Am
2003 Tiger Skins Game
2004 Nedbank Golf Challenge
2005 Volvo Masters-China (Asian Tour)
2006 Volvo Masters-China (Asian Tour), Nelson Mandela Invitational (unofficial money event in South Africa; with Bobby Lincoln)

Team appearances
Alfred Dunhill Cup
1995, 1996, 1997 (winners), 1998 (winners), 1999, 2000

World Cup
1993, 1995, 2000, 2001 (winners)

Presidents Cup
2000, 2003 (Draw), 2005

Conference Centres and Conference Venues