Golf: The Open Championship 2010- Louis Oosthuizen, the South African wins The Open Championship
The Open Championship 2010 took place at St. Andrews, from July 15th and the person with 200/1 odds of winning not only went against his odds but also left some of the world’s most prolific, famous and best golfer’s trailing him at the end of The Open Championship was Louis Oosthuizen .
The last Open Championship had been won by Tiger Woods and in 2000; Tiger Woods grabbed the title and stunned the statistics by a record score of 19 under par to win by eight holes.
Oosthuizen debuted in 2002, had extremely good scores and secured rounds with comprehensive scores and a 16 under par total. Stunning the World number 3, Lee Westwood by a seven shot winning margin. Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson were left a further shot behind.
Louis Oosthuizen, the 27 year old South African managed to climb to the top of the ladder and took The Open Champion title as his reward. The 27 year old, who had played The Masters and The U.S Open thus far, managed to achieve nothing and the stage was set for despite the fact that The Open Championship consisted of big names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.
After 12 holes of the final round, Oosthuizen was 17 under par and was almost nearing the record set by Tiger Woods, a decade earlier of 19 under par. Which later, he did not manage to reach as he simply wanted to enjoy the fact that he was only the 4th South African to have won the The Open Championship after Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els. Therefore, his concentration during play was more on the win factor rather than to beat the record set by Tiger Woods.
The four shot lead that Oosthuizen had on Casey, was cut down on the final day to three as a result of a bogey on the on the eighth. However, Oosthuizen managed to move ahead of Casey by a 40ft eagle followed by birdie three on the 12th compared to Casey, who suffered a triple bogey. Oosthuizen’s best result thus far was the final cut of the 2008 USPGA championship and he finished last. Over here, he admitted that the competition had been tough till the 12th hole. He also added that at the end of the game it was more of a one shot game and anyone who got that shot was the winner and in this case the winner being him.
Oosthuizen said that it was unbelievable that he had such a big lead and it was very difficult to remain calm after that much of a lead. He was really glad to have stayed focused and to have finished with an eight shot lead on the 17th tee.
Oosthuizen said "I kept cool and calm the whole way but it's probably going to hit me tomorrow or next week what I've done."
The leader board of the Open Championship made Oosthuizen very happy but shocks many as Worlds best golfers have positions way down and the last major Open i.e. The US Open Champion Graeme McDowell also finished way down. The leader board had Oosthuizen in first place with -16 to par and a total of 284 and earning him $1,350,000 second position was secured by Lee Westwood and third by the local favourite Paul Casey.
The US Open Champion and the one of the best golfer Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods were big names and these names appeared tied for the 23rd spot -3 to par and a total points of 285. The next big name in golf that was of Phil Mickelson, who also had no signs of form, he was in though finishing in 4th place in the US Open, Phil Mickelson finished in a shocking tied 48th position with +1 to par and total of 289.
Oosthuizen’s calm and time taking simple putts even with such a big lead behind him allowed him not to make silly mistakes and win The Open Championship and that too on the day of former South African President Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday, which made it all the more special for the South African he added.
Tags: