By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

He came, he saw, he three-putted and then he conquered.

Now the time has come for Retief Goosen to try to do it all over again. He hopes without the three putt bit this time.

Goosen is the golfer who goofed at last year's United States Open.

Yet he not only lived to tell the tale, but 24 hours later proved himself the player all of Europe thought he was.

A large number of American fans would not have recognised the Berkshire-based South African on his arrival at Southern Hills in Tulsa, but Bethpage Park on New York's Long Island should be very different for the 33-year-old.

And that is true even before he takes to the first tee with Open champion David Duval and US PGA champion David Toms to start his title defence on Thursday.

Occasionally, a surprise major champion disappears from view almost as quickly as he appears. Goosen has gone from strength to strength.

In the year of his reign Goosen won six more times, became the first non-European to win the Order of Merit since Greg Norman in 1982, earned over £3million and climbed into the world's top five.

No wonder he describes it as "a dream 12 months".

But still people hark back to those three putts from 12 feet on the final green a year ago.

Two would have won him the championship, but when he left himself a two-footer and missed it Goosen had to enter an 18-hole play-off with Mark Brooks the following day.

Losing it would have left some horrible mental scars. Winning it, 70 to 72, was the making of him.

"My confidence level is much higher and I know I can play under the pressure of a major championship and in tough conditions," he reflects.

"I prefer tough courses to those where it's just a putting contest. I like it when you have to grind it out."

Bethpage Park certainly fits that bill, a par 70 7,214 yards which makes it the longest course in the event's history.

"I started last year 38th in the world rankings and my goal was maybe top 20," added Goosen.

"It's hard to believe how far I've come with so many good players around.

"I used to be so negative on the course. I tended to drag too many bad things along.

"But over the last few years I've started to believe in myself more. When I broke my arm skiing at the start of 1999 I had two months off and started seeing Jos (Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout).

"Now I have more positive thoughts than negative ones."

Along with that has come a more compact swing - "I used to be long and loose" - and the talent that has been there right from his amateur days was allowed to flourish.

"Everybody kept going on about the three-putt after my win, but that doesn't bother me.

"It could have gone the other way, but I won it and I thought I played well all five days.

"I haven't thought about it as much as everybody else has. It was just another three-putt. All right, it was to win the US Open, but if it had happened to me on the 17th it wouldn't have been so bad.

"I was the unlucky dog to three-putt last (after Brooks and then Stewart Cink had), but it hasn't affected me as much as other people think it should.

"Things happen in life and it happened for a reason. You've just got to learn from that.

"It would have been nice to have two-putted and gone home, but maybe what happened will make me a stronger player."

The victory made him an instant star, even prompting Nelson Mandela to get in touch.

"He said I had helped to put the country back on the map and that it was great to see South African sports people doing well."

Becoming US Open champion earned Goosen, amongst other things, a five-year exemption on the American tour.

He has not given up his European links, though, and last month was made an honorary member on this side of the Atlantic.

"There's a bit of pressure on me now, but I'm not going to put myself under the pressure of winning every week. I will play it shot by shot."

On Thursday Goosen will try to get into the same groove he had in Tulsa last year - and not the one which saw him, amongst others, hand Tiger Woods the Masters in April.

Playing with the world number one in the final round at Augusta, Goosen three-putted the opening green and was never really a danger to Woods again.

Because of the blunders of Ernie Els and Vijay Singh later he came back to finish second.

Runner-up in the Masters is not to be sniffed at, but Goosen likes the taste of victory much, much more.