His lead over eventual winner Michael Campbell dwindled to one stroke there, and after Goosen three-putted the next two holes — he left a putt for eagle 6 feet short on the fourth — his plunge down the leaderboard began.

“I had a bad start, and from then on, it was pretty much downhill all the way,” Goosen said.

By the time the Goose had reached the turn, he was trailing Campbell by two. By the time Goosen hit No. 11, tournament officials had put him and Gore on the clock, not because they’re slow by nature, but “because we had just had to hit so many shots,” he said.

By No. 12, Goosen knew he wasn’t going to win.

“Basically, the last seven holes, I was trying to finish the round and get on,” he said. “There was nothing to play for.”

It was a disheartening end to a week that began with Goosen complaining about not getting the attention normally afforded a defending U.S. Open champion and continued with the golf world starting to come to grips with the idea that, boring or not, Goosen really did belong up there with the game’s elite.

Interactive Breakdown of golfing greats Goosen, Els, Mickelson, Singh and Woods

In the end, he still finished third among the Big Five, behind Woods and Vijay Singh but ahead of Els (15th) and Phil Mickelson (33rd), both of whom played themselves out of the tournament before the weekend.

Still, it was a stunning decline for a player previously thought unflappable. And in the end, even he proved vulnerable to beastly Pinehurst No. 2, its humpbacked greens and the overall difficult conditions.

“I am very disappointed in the way things turned out today,” Goosen said. “I would have liked to have been at least up there, coming down the last five holes, having a chance.”

MORE FROM GOLF

Golf Section Front

McPherson leads heading into LPGA final round Out of Bounds: Tiger booed ... at Stanford? Latest golf videos Latest player news, rumors and more Tracking Tiger: News, features and more Tiger's triumphs: Recapping all Woods' wins Vote: When will Tiger win his 15th major? Vote, discuss: Best major of 2009? Special section: Golf on NBC Discuss: Sound off on golf at Newsvine.com Golf Section Front   Add Golf headlines to your news reader: