World No 17

The double major-winner has had, by his standards, an average season. Victory at the Qatar Masters in January - when he finished birdie-eagle to claim the winner’s cheque - looked to be a promise of things to come, but despite posing a threat on the final day at the Masters, in Augusta, where he finished tied for second, the South African has not produced the golf of which he is capable.

The lack of consistency can be attributed to one thing - his putting. When a player has twice mastered the US Open greens - so much so that when all those around him were losing their tempers with the lightning-quick surfaces at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, New York, in 2004, one writer felt prompted to ask whether Goosen had a pulse, such was his cool demeanour - to lay the blame on his putter is a big statement. He finished 23rd at this year’s Open Championship but arrived at Carnoustie on the back of four missed cuts in a row. The week after, he travelled to the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship in Hamburg, Germany, and, despite finishing tied for 29th, he felt compelled to speak out after a third-round bogey-free 67. “I feel like I shot 77, really, so badly I putted,” he said. “My iron play was probably the best it’s been all year. But I missed so many short ones, it’s scary. It could have been 61. The putter’s ice-cold. When you can’t make putts it doesn’t matter how good you hit it.”

The world No 17 is not about to make wholesale changes to his game. His swing is deliberately simple and, in the main, self-taught. This year he has started working with a swing coach again, Gregor Jamieson, who has helped him to straighten out errant tee-shots and stay away from bad habits with his posture and at takeaway. However, Goosen will not change his attitude on the course and he is positive that the C-Groove putter that was added to his bag the week before he won the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa, will come good again.

“Golf is about confidence - off the tee as much as on the greens – and my goal is to try to climb back up the world rankings and compete in the majors again,” he said.

Factfile

Age: 38 Nationality: S African Wins: 27 Major title wins: 2 (US Open 2001 and 2004) Major record in 2007: Masters: equal second; US Open: missed cut; Open: equal 23rd; US PGA: equal 23rd How he qualified for World Match Play: Tenth on major championship ranking Previous WMP experience: seven times