Nine putts.
That's all Retief Goosen needed over the final eight holes of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Nine. A single two-putt, seven one-putts.
Needing only nine putts over eight holes in any round of golf is remarkable. Needing only nine putts over the final eight holes of a tournament to hold off the hottest golfer in the world is truly special. But needing just nine putts over the final eight holes of a U.S. Open with the browns -- er, greens -- running at the speed of Teflon to win by two strokes is legendary.
How good was Goosen's putter down the stretch? Over his final eight holes, he holed 66 feet worth of putts. That's an average of over eight feet per hole during that span. Phil Mickelson, who shot the second lowest round on Sunday, needed three putts just to get through the treacherous 17th. That's a third of Goosen's eight-hole total. Bo Van Pelt took six putts on the fourth green alone.
The putter can act as the great equalizer; on Sunday, Goosen proved this to be true. Despite a shaky long game -- Goosen hit just five fairways and six greens -- Goosen's putter rescued him throughout. For the day, Goosen had 12 one-putts and just 24 putts total.
And in the end, it was Goosen's successful up-and-down from the bunker at the 17th that outdid Mickelson by two strokes, the final margin of victory.
Did Mickelson choke? It's easy to point to his three-putt double bogey at the 71st hole of the tournament. When he arrived at the tee, still beaming from his birdie at the 16th, Mickelson owned a one-shot advantage over Goosen, who was playing the par-five hole behind him. By the time Mickelson exited the green, Goosen had birdied 16, and Mickelson's double bogey left him at two under par; Mickelson trailed by two.
Some media members even asserted that his choke began on Saturday when he bogeyed 17 and 18. Indeed, Phil's Saturday finish was sloppy. He missed a short putt on 17 for par, and then three-putted the 18th green for another bogey.
But let's not forget that this 2004 U.S. Open had the potential to be a shootout among the Big Four: Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and Tiger Woods. All three, except Mickelson, failed to make it so. Singh's weekend scores: 77, 78. Woods never even sniffed the leaders; and as for Els, he fired his worst U.S. Open round ever on Sunday, an 80.
Mickelson, however, was the only player to challenge Goosen on Sunday. On a day when only one player shot even par, and the scoring average for the day was almost 79, Mickelson carded a one-over 71. He had only 27 putts and finished at two under par, three shots clear of his nearest competitor not named Retief. So who choked: Mickelson, or Els? Or Singh? Or Woods?
Even Mickelson's three-putt at 17 can be explained by something other than "The Choke Theory." He faced a slick, downhill, left-to-right six-footer for par. While waiting to attempt the putt, he watched as Goosen holed a 12-footer for birdie on the 16th to tie Mickeslon at four under par. Goosen's birdie must have had an effect on Mickelson, and even Jack Nicklaus, in a recent interview with the Associated Press, sympathized with Phil.
"Here you are standing on 17, needing to make a putt to save par, and Retief birdies. It made Phil's putt a lot longer," Nicklaus said. "I've had it happen to me many times. You miss that first one, and suddenly you get frozen over the second. Because of what's going through your mind at the time, it's difficult to prepare yourself for the second putt. It's a shame for Phil, because he played a wonderful U.S. Open."
He borrowed too much break on his par effort and left himself four feet for bogey.
Mickelson's bogey putt was elementary: four feet, inside right, and firm. It's a putt he makes 99 times out of 100 on the practice green. But this was no audition. Mickelson stood on the toughest stage in golf with one putt to keep his Open hopes from being swept away on a Shinnecock gust.
But a misread of the break kept his ball from disappearing. With a vacant half-smile, Phil walked off the 17th green to a sound he had not heard all day in the boisterous parade-de-Mickelson that was his seventeen hole stroll to that point: silence.
Mickelson's parade ended prematurely: one hole early, one trophy short.
But rather than disgrace Mickelson's new image of a major champion with a galvanized reserve, Mickelson's foibles at the 17th should instead polish the sheen of Goosen's performance. 27 putts? A back nine charge including birdies at 13, 14, and 16? "Sorry, mate," Goosen seemed to say, "not good enough."
Mickelson summed it up in his post-round press conference perfectly: "To come very close, to play so hard for 72 holes and play better than everybody but one guy is disappointing."
It's important to note that Goosen and Mickelson seemed to be playing on a different course than the rest of the field. It's not often that NBC can shrink their leaderboard to two names at the conclusion of the front nine, but that's exactly what they did; with apologies to Jeff Maggert, who finished third, no one else had a chance.
Goosen's putting drew comparisons to a machine: an unfeeling, unemotional robot that is not affected by pressure or nerves. But Goosen insisted that he is as human as all of us. He admitted to having first-tee jitters and being "on edge" throughout the front nine.
But how to explain one of the best final eight-hole putting performances ever televised?
"I actually started feeling more relaxed around about No. 11 and 12."
Understated, like Goosen himself.
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