subject: A Day for History in Golf For South Africa [print this page] The Old Course at St. Andrews, the site for this year's Open Championship is one of the most challenging courses on the tour. Of the twenty seven winners since the links made the rotation, nine have been Scottish and ten have been Americans. Those ten have been of the most recent seventeen, saying something about the dominance of U.S. golf in the contemporary international scope. However, for the second year this decade, the four major championships have been won by representatives of four different continents, saying something, perhaps, different about the global scale of golf. This is in large part due to the young golfer Louis Oosthuizen.
The South African swept the Open with a gapped smile on his facehe's been dubbed Shrek' by those closest to him. He came into the final round leading by four and ended the day with a substantial seven-shot lead over the second place winner Lee Westwood. At one point, Paul Casey looked to close the gap. Casey, the fate of British golf fans weighing upon his shoulders, came within three shots of Oosthuizen and proceeded to drive the green on the par-4 ninth. Oosthuizen, however, was not bothered in the least by the English breathe upon on his back, as he answered by driving the green on the same hole and sinking a 50-foot eagle putt to restore his cushion. Casey, his hopes for redemption all but crushed, triple-bogeyed the 12th, securing the finality of his defeat.
It was a big day for South Africa. After closing out one of the most popular world cups in history, and on the day of Nelson Mandela's birthday, the continent was made proud by her son, a young man hailing from a dairy farm. Oosthuizen, the pupil of Ernie Els, turned professional but quickly fell into the category of underachieving talent; it seemed he may never live up to his potential. However, he finally realized what must be done: "It was just a matter of growing up, really," Oosthuizen said of his once hot-tempered play. "I think any youngster that's playing that makes stupid mistakes on the golf course, it frustrates you. If you look at the older guys on Tour who have all that experience, when they make bogey or double bogey they just go on the next hole. I thought to myself, the quicker I can get around that, the quicker I'm going to win tournaments here."
Retief Goosen nods to Oosthuizen's potential and his ability to finally reach it: "Shrek is on the move," Goosen said. "The guy's got one of the best swings on tour. I think he'll be around for many years to come."
Whether that's true or not, one thing's for sure: the name, etched upon the oldest trophy in golf, a silver claret jug, is as difficult to forget as it is to pronounce (WUHST'-hy-zen).
A Day for History in Golf For South Africa
By: David Stargel
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