Tournament long since over when last pairing finishes

Adam Candee

Monday, June 20, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Big Five, Big Guy, whatever. It all ended the same frightful way.

The trim South African holding a three-shot lead in the quest for his third U.S. Open win and the oversized Nationwide Tour grinder who longed for his big break looked an awful lot alike when Sunday's round concluded.

That is, battered, beaten and searching for answers as to how the final pairing of a major championship shot a combined 25-over and had nothing to play for but a friendly $5 in their final three holes.

Retief Goosen, the world's fifth-ranked player, coughed up a three-stroke lead just three holes into his final round. He matched Tiger Woods and countryman Ernie Els for the most putts in a single round this week with 36 on Sunday, leading to a dismal 11-over 81 that took him from starting with the outright lead (worth $1.17 million) to ending in a tie for 11th (worth $123,857.)

"On 16, I said, 'At least we've got to try and play for something on these last three holes,'" Goosen said. "And unfortunately, he messed up on the last one. I won the five bucks."

Gore, the world's 818th-ranked player, began the day tied for second at even-par. On Saturday, he soaked in international media attention for his lovable everyman attempt at shocking the golf world. On Sunday, he lost a five-spot to Goosen along the way to a 14-over 84 -- the worst round of the tournament for any player who made the cut -- that dropped him to a tie for 49th.

At least Gore kept the sense of humor that endeared him to galleries that roared for him even as he tapped in a double bogey at par-4 No. 18 to close a nightmare round.

"We were wondering if we were going to get shots at the end," Gore said. "When we went in, we were going to score our scorecard and ask what the (winning) net was."

Three double dogeys and a triple bogey don't win much, as evidenced by a Nationwide-like payday of $20,275 for Gore. He really had to think to remember his last 84.

"Junior golf," Gore said. He paused a beat, then changed the thought. "Actually, it was 10 minutes ago."

Goosen also struggled to recall his last round as poor as this, eventually pointing back to the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and the 12-over 82 he shot in the second round on the way to missing the cut. The player reputed as one of the tour's most unflappable began unraveling with a double bogey on the hardest hole of the week, the par-4 second hole that played nearly half a stroke over on average. Goosen followed that with bogeys at Nos. 3, 4 and 6, giving back a lead many thought untouchable, especially for a defending champion bidding for a third title in five years.

Goosen made the turn at 6-over for the day, Gore at 5-over on Sunday.

"Obviously, between me and Jason, we got off to a bad start pretty quickly," Goosen said. "So yeah, between the two of us, it was hard to get going in a way."

For as blessed as Gore seemed through Sunday, he appeared equally thwarted in the final round. He fell off the leaderboard within a couple of hours, giving away a return trip to the U.S. Open and a likely berth in the Masters by freefalling out of the top eight.

A 31-year-old father of an 8-month-old baby, Gore remained the people's champion, dangerously flirting with the 235-pound weight listed by the Nationwide Tour and calling himself a "cheeseball" for pointing home his final putt on Saturday in Tiger style. The applause for him at the 18th green Sunday was nearly as loud and equally as long as it was for champion Michael Campbell.

Gore profusely thanked the fans at Sunday's end, even thanking media members for talking about his story throughout the week. He and Goosen both put the humbling round in perspective rather quickly.

"This is nothing serious," Goosen said. "Nobody has died, I think, or anything."

That may be easier to say for a player whose 2005 earnings of nearly $2 million more than double Gore's nine-year career haul. Goosen next takes his PGA Tour exemption through 2009 on to wherever he likes, while Gore likely heads to next week's Nationwide Tour event, the famed Northeast Pennsylvania Classic in Scranton, Pa.

Gore hopes to receive some Tour sponsor's exemptions later in the year.

"I guess I'll just feel around the waters a little bit," Gore said. "If it's not looking like it will be handed out to me, then I'll spend my time on the Nationwide Tour."