When he thinks about it, Goggin knows he's knocking on the door
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
HUMBLE, Texas -- Mathew Goggin thinks too much when he putts.
Honest.
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He doesn't do it when he hits a tee shot. Or an approach. Or even a bunker shot.
All of which may explain why Goggin jump-started his round -- and his move into contention at the Shell Houston Open -- with a 147-metre, as the Aussie put it, hole-out for eagle at the fifth hole Friday morning. That turned a so-so start into a second-round 64 and a two-day total of 9-under 135.
"I hit a great 5-iron on the next drive,'' he said. "All of a sudden, I didn't hit a bad shot for the rest of the day and had plenty of opportunities. That sort of really got things going.''
And shot the 33-year-old Australian to the upper echelon of the leaderboard -- three shots behind rain-delay second-round leader Johnson Wagner. And, yes, he's fully aware of the rich Australian history at the tournament.
Adam Scott won last year. Stuart Appleby has won the tournament twice; Robert Allenby once. Then there's David Graham, Bruce Devlin and Bruce Crampton. And, well, Greg Norman came close in 1988, finishing second.
"We always have -- I don't know why we play well here,'' said Goggin, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour, but has yet to get his first victory in six seasons on the PGA TOUR. "It's not like it's a classic Australian golf course. It's not like it's set up (like) we play anything at home. It's wide open, bent greens, and it's more like a smashing -- maybe we're just all better on courses you don't have to think around, you just 'smash it and go find it' type thing.''
He paused to chuckle along with everyone else. "You "dumb it" for us, we do alright,'' he said.
Goggin struggled with mononucleosis earlier this year, but his game is more than rounding into form. An excellent wind player, he tied for seventh at The Honda Classic and tied for 14th at the windy PODS Championship. Now he's in contention here.
"I'm getting close,'' he said. "I'm knocking on the door. It's just a question of I don't know if it's a bit more belief or being a bit more aggressive to finish off the tournament. I don't know if I have a tendency to back off or lose concentration on a groups of holes. I tend to put it on cruise. Letting it come to you instead of jumping on it for 72 holes can cost you the tournament.''
At the same time, he's overthinking on the greens. Goggin's putting better now -- he says that it's his TaylorMade Spider putter he put in the bag in February -- but it's really letting all those thoughts go.
"If I start to putt poorly, I get into my technique too much, apart from being really free and detached, I guess would be the right word,'' he said. "There's a few issues with my stroke that I worked on quite a bit last year.
" ... You've just got to get it to where it's world class. You can't be an average putter and expect to compete out here week in, week out. If I can get it to the same level as the rest of my game, I believe probably will have a lot more success.''
So far, so good this week for a man who's not just looking for his first Masters invitation, but for that first PGA TOUR win.
"A win would be so big for me,'' he said. "Getting into Augusta would be a huge bonus.''
Like 80 percent of the field, playing his way to a trip down Magnolia Lane is on his mind.
"Anytime you win, it's in the back of your mind,'' he said. "Just because it's the last opportunity doesn't mean it's anymore in the back of your mind than it was last week or 12 months ago. For me, having my first win is a much bigger deal.''
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