Goosen rues a lost chance to get back into the hunt

Retief Goosen teed off Saturday thinking a 68 would put him in the thick of things. He almost got there, but a final-hole bogey left him with a 70 -- an excellent score on a killer day but, he fears, just not quite good enough for a shot on Sunday.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Correspondent

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- At the start of the day, he was just happy to be here.

By the time he walked off 18 Saturday afternoon, he was kicking himself.

Retief Goosen slipped into the weekend fray courtesy the anyone-within-10-shots-of-the-leaders rule and was hoping to take advantage of the gift. Big time. He figured if he could shoot 4 under, he'd be in contention come Sunday morning.

He came close. The two-time U.S. Open champ cruised into the 18th hole 3 under par, but put his approach shot into the seat nearly pin high and settled for a bogey and a third-round 70.

"I was disappointed with the finish," he said after signing his card. "I'm eight behind at the moment and I thought I'd move up a few more spots. I think now, I'm a little too far behind."

Goosen, who played in the fifth group of the day, said the greens were still receptive when he played the front nine. But by the time he played the back, the wind had started to dry things out. Especially 17.

"The greens aren't easy," he said. "You can see by the pin placements. They're using pins they've never used before because they know to put it where they usually do would be impossible.

"Today they were quite generous with the placements. We won't see that tomorrow. Fourteen is impossible to get near it."

Goosen finished second here in 2002 and was tied for third in both 2005 and 2006, so with the wind and cold expected to continue through Easter Sunday, he figured he needed to be within four shots or so of the lead to have a chance.

He birdied the 11th from 30 feet to get to 2 under, then birdied the 15th with a sand wedge to 5 feet. Then came the 18th, where he missed the green.