Slow and boring Goosen has advantage at the US Open

Congressional is going to play very long. Only a few players have the game and temperament to deal with this. And one of the few is Goosen.

It has often been said that nobody would choose to watch Retief Goosen play a round of golf.

The South African can be painfully slow and there is not a lot of flair there, either, for someone so blessed with so much natural talent.

He plods along on or close to par, shows no emotion whether a shot is good or bad, all with a level of patience that most others players could never hope to reach.

That is one reason why he has a great chance to win his third US Open title this weekend.

He triumphed in 2001 and 2004 and he should have won in 2005 as well but he blew up on the final day and shot 81 after he had opened a three-shot lead over the field.

As one writer put it at the time; "That's the most interesting thing that guy has ever done."

Goosen's career took a dip after that disappointment, until he finished runner-up to Ernie Els in last December's South African Open. He also finished joint third at last week's St Jude Classic in Memphis, thanks in part to a superb third round of 64.

So he is in form going into the one major where par is your best friend and keeping a cool head when shots are inevitably dropped is a key to winning.

Congressional is going to play very long. A score of plus-par is probably going to be good enough. Only a few players out there have the game and temperament to deal with this.

And one of the few is Goosen. Not interesting, perhaps, but born to play the US Open.