Will Oosthuizen be another surprising British Open champ?

By Paul Newberry
July 17, 2010


ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Louis Oosthuizen was never in this position, yet he looked like he had done it all before at the British Open.

Bouncing back from a bogey at the first hole, the little-known South African played the front nine in 1-under 35 Saturday to maintain his lead on the Old Course over hard-charging Paul Casey.

Casey, trying to snap Britain’s 11-year drought in its home major, was the hottest player on the course. He poured in five birdies to make the turn in 31, but was still trailing the steady Oosthuizen (WUHST-hy-zen) by two strokes.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden got in the mix with a 5-under 67, leaving him at 7-under 209 through three rounds. Also at 7 under were Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Spain’s Alejandro Canizares.

The top American was Dustin Johnson, hoping to avoid another final-round meltdown. Last month, he led going to the final round of the U.S. Open but shot a dismal 82.

A 69 at St. Andrews gave Johnson a shot at making everyone forget about his debacle at Pebble Beach.

The expected U.S. contenders were nowhere to be found.

Tiger Woods plodded along with a 73 that ended with a three-putt par on 18 after he drove the green for the second day in a row. He walked off the course 10 shots behind Oosthuizen and looked very much as though his oh-fer streak at the majors will remain intact since coming back from a sex scandal.

Phil Mickelson appeared to be making a charge until he yanked his tee shot into the hospitality area at the 16th and made double-bogey. Lefty wound up with a 70 and was 11 shots off the lead.

Oosthuizen had never contended in a major championship. Heck, this was the second time he’d made the cut in nine career appearances. And when he got off to a shaky start, sliding a 6-footer by the right edge of the cup to take bogey, everyone wondered if he could hold on.

But he quickly steadied himself with five straight pars, then birdied two of the last three holes on the front side to get to 13 under for the first time.

Casey thrilled the crowd with his second straight 31 on the front side, setting himself up to make a run at becoming Britain’s first winner at the Open since Paul Lawrie’s improbable victory at Carnoustie in 1999—a tournament remembered more for Jean Van de Velde’s collapse on the 72nd hole than Lawrie’s triumph in the four-hole playoff.

Heading in the opposite direction: Mark Calcavecchia.

The 50-year-old American hoped to finish what Greg Norman and Tom Watson started the last two years. Instead, Calcavecchia bogeyed the first three holes, took a quadruple-bogey on the fifth and staggered to the turn with a 7-over 43. That ensured he won’t even go to the last day of the Open—as Norman and Watson did—with a chance to become the oldest player to win a major title.

Stenson rolled in a 60-foot birdie putt at the eighth, but his biggest shot came after a booming 5-wood off the tee at the 13th. From the rough, he holed out a low wedge from 105 yards for an eagle.

“After a while, the crowd went crazy,” Stenson deadpanned, “which I took as a good thing.”

Although the wind kicked up Saturday afternoon, conditions were more favorable for the third round than they were the day before, when 14 players— including first-round leader Rory McIlroy—shot in the 80s.

McIlroy bounced back, playing more like the golfer who tied a major-championship record with a 63 on Thursday than the guy who posted an 80 the next day. Even with a double-bogey at No. 17, the famed “Road Hole,” the 21-year-old Northern Irishman managed a 69 that gave him a glimmer of hope heading into the final round. He was nine strokes behind.

Thirty players had to return to the Old Course to finish up the second round after high winds forced a one-hour suspension on Friday.

Everyone was chasing Oosthuizen, a 27-year-old regular on the European Tour who’s given South Africans another reason to beam—please, no vuvuzelas—on the heels of successfully hosting soccer’s World Cup.

This is new territory for the player who’s given name is Lodewicus Theodorus. This is the first time he’s ever made the cut in four British Open appearances.

“It’s everybody’s dream to win the Open,” Oosthuizen said, who was 12-under 132 at the midway point after two straight rounds in the 60s. “But to win at St. Andrews … you never really think it will happen.”

Then again, the British Open has a history of producing unlikely champions— Ben Curtis (2003) and Todd Hamilton (2004). Maybe this is Oosthuizen’s week. In March, he won for the first time on the European Tour.

“Everybody around here is telling me, ‘You’ve got the shots, you’re playing well,”’ Oosthuizen said. “That win earlier this season just got my mind set in a different way. I’m reading it really nice and looking forward to it from here on.”

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