The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Oosthuizen the new Old Course specialist
Confident former champion will stick to a plan that has worked in past
Louis Oosthuizen, then something of a novice in major championship terms, lapped the field at the 2010 Open Championship.
It was a big shock at the time. He got the good end of the lop-sided draw caused by Friday’s wind and rain – not that he needed it, having grown up in Mossel Bay on the Eastern Cape where, according to his manager Chubby Chandler, “it blows so hard even the seagulls walk”.
Five years on, although Louis has no more majors, it’s much less of a shock in hindsight. Largely acknowledged to have the best swing in the game, he’s overcome injury problems to become a significant threat to regain the Claret Jug.
And not without good evidence other than his strong finish in the US Open last month, where he almost caught Jordan Spieth despite a first round disaster, proving he was back to his best.
Since he won in 2010, Louis is a remarkable 27-under for his six rounds on the Old Course in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, averaging better than 68 a round, including a 62 last year.
Add his Claret Jug to that, and in the absence of Rory McIlroy and the possible decline of Tiger Woods we may have the next man in a long line of Old Course specialists dating back to Allan Robertson and Old Tom Morris.
“I have confidence knowing what I’ve done here and that I can play this golf course,” he said. “This is a place where I can aim quite a bit left and hit a little cut with my driver, which is a shot I really enjoy.
“It takes the right side of the course out, and if you can drive it well avoiding the pot bunkers, then you’re in play on every hole.
“You’re going to have long birdie putts around here, and with a lot of the pins that’s actually as close as you can get in some winds.”
Those winds – and a real hooley is in the long-range weather forecast for Friday – are the chief difficulty, and the biggest problem for Spieth.
“There’s as many as six wind directions. You can have two or three in one day,” he added.
“I’ve played front nine into the wind and it turns on me at 11 and you play the whole back nine into the wind as well.
“You need to know the dangers you can have in those type of winds. But the form Jordan’s in right now, I think he’s still the guy that everyone is chasing.”
But having recovered from the back problems that plagued him and caused him to withdraw in 2013 at Muirfield, he is confident about his chances.
“I like the way my game is for this golf course. I’m going to stick to what I’ve done for the last five years here, every time I’ve played the Dunhill, and see if it works the same way.”
I have confidence knowing what I’ve done here and that I can play this golf course.
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN