THE MODERATOR: Retief Goosen is with us now at the 2026 Senior PGA Championship. Retief, a nice 5-under 67 for you to start today. What went well out there for you?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I got off to a slow start, bogeyed the first, and then hit it over the green on the second, and ended up making a 5-footer for par and then three-putting the third hole for par.
It was sort of a very slow start. Then, you know, if you birdie three out of the four par-3s on any golf course, you gain some ground on some on the field. Yeah, three twos out there today and the par-5s. After that I played nicely. Three birdies.
Overall, you know, a bit scruffy at places, but I'll 5-under any day.
THE MODERATOR: For sure. Questions.
Q. Can you describe your best birdie on the par-3s and your best birdie on the par-5s?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, that was the only holes I played well out there today.
Q. What would have been the best birdie of all?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Probably the fourth. The fourth was playing fairly long today. The 6-iron pushed it 25 feet right of the hole and rolled a nice putt out there. On the next hole I hit it to about 6 feet and then another good 7-iron on the next par-3, probably 15 feet.
Really good drive on the par-5, number seven. 6-iron into the green and pushed it, came up short, ran down a bank, and managed to bump-and-run it up there to a couple of feet and make a nice birdie there. 11 was an 8-iron to probably 6 feet. 13 was playing downwind today, so it was a driver 7-iron. I actually thought I made the putt for eagle there.
Q. We were talking about distance and the rookies coming and hitting the ball very long. It doesn't seem to be a problem for you.
RETIEF GOOSEN: The fairways are running out there. Some of the fairways are going to get tricky to hit. The ball, some of them, are running a good 30, 40 yards out. So it really depends. Like 18, if you get the fade going and it's running down that hill, it could run into the water.
So, yeah, I'm happy. You know, I had one bad tee shot, number 15. 15 I pushed it. I thought I hit it in the water, and it just carried by a yard. So that was a bit of a break.
Q. The par-5s here in kind of the run-up it was said that they're some of the tougher par-5s that you will see, but what was the setup like? When you make three birdies on the par-5s, how did that --
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, number two is the longest of the lot, and with the wind here the last few days, it's been playing downwind, so you can get a home in two, 500 and whatever, 80 yards.
Today I drive a 3-wood. No wind this morning. Sort of just right of the green and then three-putted. I hit a good drive on seven. Like I said, I had a 6-iron in there and then blocked it a bit. It hit the bank. The seven is probably the hardest green on the course, I reckon. That one and 13. There's so many runoffs. It's so hard just to keep it on the green. A great shot to keep it on the green.
Q. It's not unusual for long hitters to make a lot of their progress on the par-5s, but you had the par-5s and the par-3s. Those were the only scoring and then to play the par-4s in 1-over, how unusual a round is that?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, I mean, I definitely had my chances at some birdies, but just didn't really hit it close enough on the par-4s today. Except number five I hit it to about 6 feet in for two and missed that. Didn't really give myself chances, really good chances, coming in on the par-4s.
So lucky for the par-3s and the par-5s for me today. They served me well.
Q. Retief, we know how much majors mean when you were younger playing on the PGA tour. Do they have the same motivation and passion for you out here on the Champions Tour?
RETIEF GOOSEN: Of course. Yeah, the winner of this event gets into the PGA, correct? Something to play for that.
Yeah, you know, you play against the same guys you beat 20, 30 years ago. You know they are all gunning for it, and you're going to have to really play well.
You know, we were lucky this morning. No wind really to talk about this morning. As calm conditions as you can get it.
The practice rounds it was playing pretty good. Some holes a good two-club wind, so today was our day to score, definitely.
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