Louis Oosthuizen to not play in the Links Championship
British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen will not be participating in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship starting today in Scotland. Louis injured his ankle when he stepped in a pothole while he was out hunting. The player was showing his adventurous side
in South Africa when this unfortunate incident occurred.
Louis Oosthuizen turned professional in 2002 when he was only nineteen. The South African golfer has won five professional tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. He competed in the European Challenge Tour in 2003 and has been a member of the European Tour since
2004. In 2009, He ended 31st on the Race to Dubai and has been in the Top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
On his website, Oosthuizen said that he had damaged his ankle ligaments and thus has lost hopes of returning to St. Andrews where he had won his first major title this year. Oosthuizen was scheduled to participate in the pro-am tournament alongside the Ryder
Cup hero Graeme McDowell and U.S PGA winner Martin Kaymer. Had Louis been playing, it would have been the first time in 10 years that the three of the four current major champions played amongst each other.
The main purpose of Oosthuizen’s visit to his home country was not hunting alone. The player had gone to attend the wedding of compatriot Charl Schwartzel and now will stay there until his foot heals. Louis is thinking of having a good rest before his next
big event which is the Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda scheduled to start on October 18.
The Alfred Dunhill Link Championship will attract a lot of attention since nine members of the triumphant European Ryder Cup team will play as well. The players include Ross Fisher, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Peter Hanson, McDowell,
Kaymer, Edoardo and Francesco Molinari. Not only are the players playing, the captain of the team Colin Montgomerie and vice-captains Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn will compete as well.
Other important names include Ernie Else, Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell. Ernie is a major triple winner whereas Goosen and Campbell are former U.S Open Champions. Former British Open Champions John Daly and Paul Lawrie will be participating as well.
One eminent name that will not be seen in the leader board this time is Phil Mickelson.
Just like always, this event will be carried out on three distinct venues. The locations are St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarn. The 65 men leading will play the Old Course at St. Andrews on the final day.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is one of the most expensive tournaments on the European Tour. It is normally played in October and that too on distinct links courses which are centred around St. Andrews in Fife Scotland. This tournament consists
of one professional and then one amateur playing one round and hence is a pro-am. After these first three rounds, there is a cut in which the top 60 or 65 continue at St. Andrews.
This event was introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the Alfred Dunhill Cup. The Cup was a three man team tournament that came into being when the World Cup of Golf was given an augmented status as the World Golf Championships and then were known as the
WGC-World Cup. If we compare this to the PGA tour, then the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is somewhat similar to Dunhill on the European Tour.
The Links Championship can even be considered as somewhat of a family event with such closely bonded pairs playing. Colin Montgomerie will be playing with his brother Douglas Montgomerie in the first round at Kingsbarns. The Monty brothers will tee off against
Martin Kaymer and Patrick Roseler. Also, McDowell, McIlroy and Ernie Else will also be playing with their fathers at one point and time during the championship.
The Championship will surely miss a great player like Louis Oosthuizen but as the event starts today, the competition is bound to get fiercer by the day.
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