Goose Glides Back to Driver's Seat

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Goosen Breaks Four-Year Drought -- When Retief Goosen first burst on the scene with his '01 U.S. Open victory, he was an unknown golfer to most anyone. But unlike the regular U.S. Open one-and-done scoreboard Cinderellas, Goosen had a different look. Southern Hills Country Club, one of the toughest tests in golf, just didn't seem to rattle the Goose. Everyone kept waiting for him to falter. He wouldn't.

Up until the 18th hole, that is, when two putts were all he needed for his first PGA Tour victory and an unprecedented major championship. When he blew it, needing an 18-hole playoff to win, "Rattled" and "Goosen" almost became synonymous.

On Sunday at the 2009 Transitions Championship, a golf tournament lost in the shuffle of all the madness of March, Goosen found himself in an eerily similar situation.

Needing only two putts on the 18th green at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club on greens so dried out you'd expect to see USGA officials roaming the grounds, Goosen banged his first putt past the hole six feet, only to steady himself and make the par putt. Retief was a champion once more, no playoff needed.

The parallels between Goosen's first PGA Tour win at that '01 U.S. Open and Sunday's end to a four-year drought might have been nerve-racking for Goosen, but they also could be a positive. Goosen was good for the game of golf, just because he seemed to be that stoic foreign golfer that didn't let names like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson get to him.

Goosen played his game and let it do the talking. The U.S. Open in 2005 was a little bit of a breaking point for Retief. He beat Phil at Shinnecock Hills in '04 for his second U.S. Open victory and was hoping to go back-to-back, but a final round 81 after Goosen had built a three-stroke lead was very un-Goose like and he never seemed to be the same.

Now the Goose is back in the driver's seat, finding his game just weeks before he tees it up at Augusta National, a tournament where he's had some serious success. Retief has finished in the top-3 at the Masters four times, including a stretch from 2005-07 when he went t-3, t-3, t-2. Putting is the key to winning at Augusta and when Retief gets it going on the greens, he is nearly unbeatable.

Woods has been the focus of all the comeback chatter, and for good reason, but it would be nice to see Retief's tale end with a green jacket. If Goosen gets in a position to write that ending, hopefully he'll remember not to run that birdie putt well past the 18th hole come Masters' Sunday.

Look Out Bay Hill -- Here's a tough trivia question. What golfer won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last year? And in 2003? Oh, and from '00-'02? Nope, it isn't J.J. Henry. We're talking about Tiger himself.

The ongoing "When Will Tiger Tee Up Next?" bingo game checked off one more box when Woods announced on his website this weekend that he would be in the field this week at Arnie's tournament. It's a course that has always seemed to fit his eye.

I'm not saying it is absolutely crucial for Woods to win a tournament, or at least be in the hunt come Sunday, but eight months can do a lot of things to someone's mental state, even if you're as tough as Woods. If he wants to win at Augusta, I think Bay Hill has to be a week where he finds himself near the final group on Sunday and actually sniffs the lead. His t-9 at the CA-Championship was a good finish, but he never could smell blood in the water.

Even someone as great as Tiger can't just "figure it out" at the most historic golf palace in existence.

TaylorMade Has A Lot Riding on Sergio at the Masters -- I would have loved to be in the marketing meeting that produced this ploy TaylorMade has tossed together before the Masters in April. If you buy any of the r9, r7 or '09 Burner drivers through April 11 and Sergio Garcia wins the Masters, they will refund your money. Seriously.

It really is a brilliant scheme in my opinion, because it's a win-win scenario. If Garcia doesn't win, they probably convinced people in need of a new driver to go with TaylorMade because, honestly, why wouldn't you? If you've been hitting the same club for five years and have the opportunity to upgrade with the chance of getting your money back, you have to, right? If Sergio somehow figures out how to win a major championship at a course he has three top-10s at in his career, TaylorMade gets to boast about how their marquee tour player just took down the Masters with all TaylorMade equipment.

Before you guy start clicking around on Golfsmith.com, do take this into consideration, however -- Garcia has missed the cut three of the last four years at the Masters, including both '07 and '08.

Final Round Handshakes ...

-- Brett Quigley continues his reign as golf's favorite bridesmaid. A second place tie with Charles Howell III, who both finished a shot back of Goosen, made Quigley 0-for-342 on the PGA Tour in wins.

-- Ryo Ishikawa's first paycheck cashed stateside. Rounds of 69-73-75-76 landed the 17-year-old his first made cut on the PGA Tour in just his second start.