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| |  Monday, 15 April, 2002, 02:35 GMT 03:35 UK Goosen salutes Woods Mickelson and co. were always looking up to Woods Masters runner-up Retief Goosen said he was beaten by a man destined to become the greatest golfer the world has ever seen. Goosen began the final round at Augusta level with Tiger Woods on 11-under-par but ended up three shots back after wilting in the company of the defending champion. Goosen carded a closing 74 to Woods' 71 and failed in his attempt to become the first man ever to shoot in the 60s for all four rounds of the Masters. As it turned out, a 70 would have been enough to add the Green Jacket to last year's US Open title. Goosen said: "Besides Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods is the best player the game has seen. "Give him a couple more years and I think Tiger will be even greater than Jack Nicklaus.
"It's just a matter of time. He's hitting the ball so well, and with great imagination." Goosen got off to the worst possible start, dropping shots at the first, fourth and eighth to reach the turn in three-over-par 39. He dropped another shot at the par-four 11th to slip to seven-under before climbing past fellow strugglers Ernie Els and Vijay Singh with birdies at 15 and 16. "It was a great day playing with Tiger but obviously I was a bit disappointed with the way I played," said Goosen. "I was nervous starting out today but the way I was swinging the club, I was always putting from 40 feet. "It's not easy on these greens to make any putts from that distance. "You just know that Tiger is not going to make any big mistakes. You know you have to lift your game and start making birdies."
Els, meanwhile, began the day four shots back alongside Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson, but saw his challenge crumble with an eight via the water at the long 13th. The South African finished on six-under in a share of fifth with Padraig Harrington, six shots behind Woods. "We all tried (to challenge Woods) but I made a terrible swing on 13 which cost me the tournament," Els said. "I had it (momentum) but I got a bit greedy and it didn't work out for me." Mickelson carded a closing 71 to finish third, four back on eight-under, but never really ignited his round. "I don't feel as though it was a missed opportunity, per se," Mickelson said. "I just think we were all trying to make birdies. When you do that, you're going to open the door to bogeys. "I thought if I could make a bit of a move, I might be able to make some noise. "Unfortunately, it stalled a little quicker than I would have liked." | |  
See also:  13 Apr 02 | US Masters 13 Apr 02 | Photo Galleries Top US Masters stories now: Links to more US Masters stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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