Imperious Oosthuizen crowned king of the Open
ST ANDREWS is notorious for its gusty conditions but it was unheralded South African Louis Oosthuizen who truly blew away all comers as he clinched the Open Championship in emphatic fashion.
Oosthuizen, who arrived at the Home of Golf with just one European Tour title under his belt, romped to his first Major victory by a staggering seven-stroke margin as English hopes Paul Casey and Lee Westwood failed to mount a serious challenge.
The 28-year-old carded a closing round of 71 to finish on 16 under par – just three shots shy of Tiger Woods’ legendary 2000 effort – and trouser the Claret Jug and a winners’ cheque worth £850,000.
“It’s unbelievable – just amazing,” said Oosthuizen. “It’s probably going to hit me tomorrow or the week after. I felt like I played well all week and the biggest goal for me was to stay cool. I’d like to have kept the record of not going in the bunker [like Woods in 2000], but I went in one on the 14th. It became a bit difficult having a big lead, but I’m glad I had all those shots in hand on the 17th.”
Oosthuizen had missed the cut in seven of his previous eight Major appearances and was priced at 200-1 before the first tee-shot on Thursday. His nerves might have been jangling but he betrayed few signs of inner turmoil as he zeroed in on the biggest triumph of his career.
The overnight leader began his final round with a four-shot cushion over Casey and began steadily, making par at the first seven holes. He wobbled at the eighth, dropping a shot, but bounced back in formidable style by holing an eagle at the ninth.
If Casey saw the writing on the wall then he was left in no doubt when he triple bogeyed the 12th. And although Westwood’s 70 helped him finish runner-up for the second time in three Majors, he never came close to threatening Oosthuizen.
“I felt I needed something to get me going and the eagle did it,” the winner added. “I made good putts when I had to and rarely missed anything under six feet, but it was much tighter than it looked until that 12th.”
LEADERBOARD | FINAL SCORES
-16 Oosthuizen (RSA)
-9 Westwood (ENG)
-8 Casey (ENG) McIlroy (NIR), Stenson (SWE)
-7 Goosen (RSA)
-6 Kaymer (GER), O’Hair (USA), Rock (ENG) Watney (USA)
Selected others: -5 Donald (ENG), -3 Woods (USA), +1 Mickelson (USA)