In a truly dominating performance, little known Louis Oosthuizen ran away with the Claret Jug at the 139th British Open at St. Andrews Golf Course in Scotland. Oosthuizen, who came into the championship as just the 54th ranked golfer in the world, seized the lead midway through the second round Friday, and never faltered, blowing away the field to win by seven shots, finishing at 16 under par. The 27-year old South African's first major came on the same day as Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday and moves him up to 15th in the golf rankings.
"To win an Open championship is special," Oosthuizen said. "But to win it at St. Andrews ... it's something you dream about."
Oosthuizen's closest competitor ended up being Lee Westwood, who finished second at a major for the second time this year, with the first being at the Masters. But the final result was never really in doubt on Sunday, as Oosthuizen matched his playing partner Paul Casey shot for shot as Casey trailed by four coming into the final round. However, when Oosthuizen knocked in a 50-foot eagle at #8, and Casey triple bogeyed #12, Oosthuizen held an 8 shot lead with 6 holes to go.
"Nobody was going to stop him," said Casey. "He didn't miss a shot today. I don't know if he missed one all week. That was four days of tremendous golf."
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