LOUIS REIGNS
Oosthuizen sets early pace as he bids for repeat of 2010
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN played like this year’s Open was at St Andrews while Jordan Spieth started as if he were back at Royal Birkdale.
On a day of high winds and low scoring at Royal St George’s, these two former champions showed their long experience and strong form to return to the top of the leaderboard at the oldest Major. In a non-pandemic world, we would be celebrating the 150th Open on the Old Course – and Oosthuizen would still be leading. The South African won his only Major in Fife in 2010 and lost in a play-off there in 2015.
But yesterday, all the way down the east coast in Kent, the world No.13 went one better than his start in 2010 in soft conditions with a superb 64 – his first bogey-free round at The Open.
His six birdies showed why he is the top-ranked putter on the PGA Tour as he tied Christy O’Connor Jnr’s 1985 record for the best opening round at The Open in Sandwich.
The South
African said:
“It was the perfect round.
“When
I had good opportunities for birdie, I made the putts.” Oosthuizen, who owns a farm in his homeland, has finished second at the US PGA and US Open this year to take his Major runners-up finishes to six.
He said: “It gives me confidence knowing I’m still competing in them and
I’ve still got chances of winning. But my experience of 50 Majors tells me there is a lot of golf left.” Spieth is one shot back along with fellow American Brian Harman after equalling his opening 65 from his Open win in 2017, when he was world No.1. The three-time Major winner has struggled for form since and was ranked 92th in the world in January.
The Texan said: “I had a chance to win at least one of the Majors each year when I felt like I had no idea where the ball was going.”
But he has notched eight top-10 finishes from 13 starts since February, including his first win since Royal Birkdale at the Valero Texas Openim April. He added: “There’s a lot of external factors over here, and that external is where I need to be living.
“You get less swing-focused and more shot-focused here because the second you take your brain off what you’re hitting, you may not find the ball.” Four straight birdies on his front nine yesterday brought back memories of 2017.
“I feel for the first time since then I’m at least coming in with a bit of form and confidence,” he said. “There are similarities between Birkdale and here. But I think if I had played any venue in 2017, I would have won that week. I was hitting it the best I had maybe ever hit it in my life.”
South African Branden Grace played the opening round with the winners in the past two Opens – and teed up with Spieth yesterday.
The American laughed: “Well, if it happens four or five times in a row, maybe people start paying off to get paired with him in the first two rounds, but I would certainly like it to happen three times in a row.”