A couple of days before the Open, a fellow TravelGolfer asked me my pick. “Tiger Woods is the obvious answer,” I replied, “but that Retief Goosen. He’s really something. He’s the defending champion and all. He’s got something to prove. I guess I’d go with Retief.”

Now three days into the tournament, I’m looking like a genius. But I have a confession to make. I didn’t pick Retief because of his stats. I picked him because I have a giant crush on him.

My husband finds it amusing.

He asked me on Thursday, when I almost swooned after watching Retief hole out, “is Retief on your card?” Well duh. And if you’re a married woman, you know what we were talking about.

But what can I say, Retief’s got that certain something. I had the opportunity to study him up close yesterday, as he teed off on the tenth. He was the picture of relaxed self-assurance. He looked like a guy ready to tee it up with his pals on a day off, not someone going into the second round of the U.S. Open at the top of the leaderboard. I’m pretty sure I’m more anxious when Ladies Day rolls around at my club.

Not like, say, Tiger. I got to see him up close, too. In contrast to Retief, he looked tense and coiled, like a snake ready to strike. You don’t get the feeling he’d just laugh at himself, the way Retief did after three-jacking from ten feet to send himself to a playoff against Mark Brooks in 2001.

In a recent blog, Tim McDonald ponders whether Goosen is a “bland dullard.” Sorry, Tim, but you’re way off. There’s nothing bland about Retief Goosen. He’s always at the top of my leaderboard, whether he wins this thing tomorrow or goes +12.

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