Retief Goosen plans to contact Tiger Woods to apologise for claiming the world number one overstated his injury at the US Open.
South African plans to apologise for injury jibe
Retief Goosen has revealed he plans to contact Tiger Woods to apologise for his assertion that the world number one might have been overstating the seriousness of his injury at the US Open.
Having defeated Rocco Mediate in a play-off to claim his 14th major crown at Torrey Pines, Woods subsequently revealed he needed reconstructive knee surgery and had also been playing with a double stress-fracture of his left tibia.
However, before this revelation, Goosen had suggested the American was overplaying his physical condition.
When asked if Woods was exaggerating his injury, Goosen said: "I think so. It just seemed that when he hit a bad shot his knee was in pain and on his good shots he wasn't in pain. You see when he made the putts and he went down on his knees and was shouting, 'Yeah', his knee wasn't sore.
"Nobody really knows if he was just showing off or if he was really injured. I believe if he was really injured, he would not have played."
With Woods now ruled out for the remainder of the season, Goosen has admitted his "tongue-in-cheek" comments were some way off the mark and insists he intends to explain his words to the world number one.
"Talk about putting my foot in my mouth!" wrote Goosen on his personal website. "I wholeheartedly apologise for that and intend to contact Tiger to explain this to him.
"To be honest, the fact that Tiger won the US Open while suffering that sort of injury is incredible. Clearly this Goose was no match for a one-legged Tiger!
"I wish Tiger a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back on Tour as soon as possible.
"I am a huge admirer of Tiger and for what he has achieved in golf and we are all lucky to have the privilege to be playing in the same era as one of, if not the, best player of all time."
