Louis Oosthuizen


Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen is a South African professional golfer who won the 2010 Open Championship. He also holds the distinction of finishing runner-up in all four major championships: the 2012 Masters Tournament losing in a sudden death playoff, the 2015 U.S. Open, the 2015 Open Championship where he was defeated in a four-hole aggregate playoff, and the 2017 PGA Championship. He is the seventh golfer to accomplish this feat, joining Craig Wood, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. His highest placing on the Official World Golf Ranking is fourth which he reached in January 2013.

Early life and career

Oosthuizen was born in Mossel Bay, South Africa. His early career was supported financially for three years by the foundation of fellow South African golfer Ernie Els. He won numerous amateur titles before turning professional in 2002 at the age of 19.
He has won five professional tournaments on the Sunshine Tour: the 2004 Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Arabella, the 2007 Dimension Data Pro-Am and Platinum Classic, and the Telkom PGA Championship twice, in 2007 and 2008.
He played on the European Challenge Tour in 2003 and has been a member of the European Tour since 2004. In 2009, he finished 31st on the Race to Dubai. On 10 September 2012 he reached the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.
In March 2010, he won his first European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia de Golf. He also won the 2010 Masters Par 3 Contest.

2010 Open Championship

Oosthuizen entered the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews ranked 54th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and only having made one cut in eight major championship appearances. He shot a 65 on the first day, placing him in second place, behind a 63 shot by Rory McIlroy.
Oosthuizen's 67 on Friday was the low round of the day and gave him a lead that he would not relinquish throughout the final two rounds. His two-day total of 132 tied the record for the lowest 36-hole score in an Open Championship at St Andrews. A 69 on Saturday placed Oosthuizen at 15-under-par, and four shots clear of second-place Paul Casey with one round to play.
On Sunday, Casey closed the gap to three shots on the 8th hole, before Oosthuizen drove the 9th green and made a long putt for eagle. On the 12th hole, Oosthuizen made birdie, while Casey hit his drive into a gorse bush, and wound up making triple bogey to give Oosthuizen an eight-shot lead. In the end, Oosthuizen shot 71 on Sunday, and 16-under-par 272 for the championship, to win by seven strokes. His 272 was the second lowest in St Andrews history. Casey eventually finished third with Lee Westwood taking second.
Oosthuizen became the fourth man from South Africa to win the Claret Jug – following Bobby Locke, Gary Player, and Ernie Els – and moved to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, leapfrogging fellow South African Retief Goosen in 16th position.
Oosthuizen claims his exemplary focus during the tournament, which enabled him to win by a wide margin, was due to a red spot marked on his glove. He would look at that spot as the beginning of his pre-shot routine and use it to help him remain focused before and during his swing. Oosthuizen had consulted Karl Morris, a Manchester-based sports psychologist, prior to the event for ways in which he could improve his concentration.

After 2010

Oosthuizen finished the 2010 season in 10th place on the Race to Dubai, posting three further top-10s after his major win. In January 2011, he claimed his third European Tour title, and his sixth in his home country, winning the Africa Open in a playoff. In 2012, Oosthuizen successfully defended his title at the Africa Open with a two stroke victory over Tjaart van der Walt. His success was helped by a second round 62, which took Oosthuizen to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage and from there he held on for victory.
Oosthuizen was runner-up at the 2012 Masters Tournament. In the final round, he scored an albatross on the second hole of Augusta National Golf Club. This was only the fourth ever albatross in Masters history, and the first to be televised, as well as the first ever on that hole. Oosthuizen took the outright lead of the tournament with this exceptional shot, and maintained the lead until caught on the 16th hole, by Bubba Watson. He was eventually defeated by Watson on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. He won his fifth European Tour title at the Maybank Malaysian Open the following week.
In the second event of the 2012 PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship, Oosthuizen held the 54-hole lead by three strokes and came close to his first victory on US soil, finishing second to Rory McIlroy by one shot.
On 10 September 2012, he reached the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. He finished the season ranked third on the Race to Dubai.
On 13 January 2013, he won the Volvo Golf Champions, shooting a six-under-par 66 final round to win the title by one stroke.
In January 2014, he retained the Volvo Golf Champions title by one shot over Branden Grace.
Oosthuizen finished as a joint runner-up in the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews after losing in a four-hole aggregate playoff during a Monday finish to the event. He was in the final group tied for the 54-hole co-lead but needed to birdie the 18th hole during his final round to tie the lead at 15-under and join Zach Johnson and Marc Leishman in the playoff. In the four-hole playoff, he birdied the first hole alongside Johnson, but could not convert his birdie putt on the second hole, giving Johnson a one-stroke advantage. All three players bogeyed the third hole and after Johnson missed his birdie putt on the final hole, Oosthuizen had a 15 footer to extend the playoff to sudden death. However his putt caught the lip on the low side and he finished at even-par, one stroke behind Johnson. This was Oosthuizen's second consecutive runner-up placing in a major championship, following the 2015 U.S. Open.
On 13 August 2017, Oosthuizen finished joint runner-up at the PGA Championship, finishing a career "second-place" Grand Slam.
On 9 December 2018, Oosthuizen won the South African Open. This event was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and the Asian Tour.
In December 2019, Oosthuizen played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Oosthuizen went 2–1–1 and lost a 3 up lead to halve his Sunday singles match against Matt Kuchar.

Amateur wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
118 Jul 2010The Open Championship65-67-69-71=272−167 strokes Lee Westwood

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12012Masters Tournament Bubba WatsonLost to par on second extra hole
22015The Open Championship Zach Johnson, Marc LeishmanJohnson won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Johnson: −1,
Oosthuizen: E,
Leishman: +2

European Tour wins (9)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
128 Mar 2010Open de Andalucia de Golf67-63-66-67=263−173 strokes Richard Finch, Peter Whiteford
218 Jul 2010The Open Championship65-67-69-71=272−167 strokes Lee Westwood
39 Jan 2011Africa Open170-67-69-70=276−16Playoff Manuel Quirós, Chris Wood
48 Jan 2012Africa Open1 69-62-67-67=265−272 strokes Tjaart van der Walt
515 Apr 2012Maybank Malaysian Open266-68-69-68=271−173 strokes Stephen Gallacher
613 Jan 2013Volvo Golf Champions68-64-74-66=272−161 stroke Scott Jamieson
712 Jan 2014Volvo Golf Champions 68-69-71-68=276−121 stroke Branden Grace
828 Feb 2016ISPS Handa Perth International2,370-64-67-71=272−161 stroke Alexander Lévy
99 Dec 2018
South African Open1,262-70-67-67=266−186 strokes Romain Langasque

1Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
3Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12011Africa Open Manuel Quirós, Chris WoodWon with birdie on first extra hole
22012Masters Tournament Bubba WatsonLost to par on second extra hole
32012Barclays Singapore Open Matteo ManasseroLost to eagle on third extra hole
42015The Open Championship Zach Johnson, Marc LeishmanJohnson won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Johnson: −1,
Oosthuizen: E,
Leishman: +2

Asian Tour wins (3)

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
3Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour
Asian Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12012Barclays Singapore Open Matteo ManasseroLost to eagle on third extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (8)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
119 Sep 2004Vodacom Origins of Golf
at Arabella		74-70-71=215−11 stroke Keith Horne
228 Jan 2007Dimension Data Pro-Am66-71-71-69=277−111 stroke Omar Sandys
325 Feb 2007Telkom PGA Championship67-65-69-65=266−221 stroke Richard Sterne
427 Oct 2007Platinum Classic64-71-70=205−11Playoff Marc Cayeux, Adilson da Silva
524 Feb 2008Telkom PGA Championship 66-63-66-65=260−2814 strokes Hennie Otto
69 Jan 2011Africa Open170-67-69-70=276−16Playoff Manuel Quirós, Chris Wood
78 Jan 2012Africa Open1 69-62-67-67=265−272 strokes Tjaart van der Walt
89 Dec 2018South African Open1,262-70-67-67=266−186 strokes Romain Langasque

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
Sunshine Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12007Vodacom Championship Richard SterneLost to birdie on second extra hole
22007Platinum Classic Marc Cayeux, Adilson da SilvaWon with par on second extra hole
da Silva eliminated by par on first hole
32011Africa Open Manuel Quirós, Chris WoodWon with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur
Professional