Remembering the reign of King Louis

We take a look back at Louis Oosthuizen's triumph at the Open Championship 2010.

Sometimes being good is not nearly enough to win one of golf's majors. Anyone can play a good round, but to do it over four days at the highest level takes a special type of player. South African Louis Oosthuizen is among the select group of men who have done it.
The Open Championship 2010 will forever be remembered for the 29-year-old's seven shot victory at St Andrews. Having failed to make the cut in three previous Open appearances at Troon, Hoylake and Turnberry, Oosthuizen shocked the world of golf when he displayed the nerves of a champion to win his first major title and the game's oldest championship over the Old Course.
Remarkably, prior to this major triumph, the South African, who is a graduate of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, had only secured his first win on the European Tour at the beginning of the 2010 season in the Open de Andalucia. Heading into the tournament, he had also failed to make the cut at the US Open and Masters.
A solid seven-under-par first round score of 65 by Oosthuizen fell under the radar following Rory McIlroy's stunning 63, but by the end of the second day of play there were few people unimpressed by the South African. Heavy rain and high winds had provided punishing conditions on the links with McIlroy's eight-over-par 80 second round score a spectacular casualty of the weather.
Oosthuizen, on the other hand, carded a 67 which earned him the joint-best round of the day and put him five-shots clear of 1989 Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia heading into the weekend.
The last three Open Championships on the Old Course at St Andrews had produced run-away winners but heading into that weekend in 2010 there was still lingering doubt in the press boxes about whether Oosthuizen had the bottle not to choke.
Early on in the third round it seemed the sports writers were right as Oosthuizen three-putted the first for bogey. However, he shook it off like a seasoned pro and managed to keep it together to shoot a round of 69, two-under-par, which left him four shots clear of Paul Casey who had leapt up to second.
On Sunday, a day where so many have faltered in their quest to lift the famous Claret Jug, Oosthuizen was just about faultless.
He opened with seven straight pars, although a bogey at the eighth brought him back to within three strokes of Casey, who had made a level-par start. Oosthuizen would not let the Englishman get any closer, eagling the ninth on his way to an eight-shot lead with six holes to play. He would eventually settle for a seven-stroke victory - the largest winning margin at The Open since Tiger Woods won his first Claret Jug on the Old Course in 2000.