Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen (; born 1982) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who won the 2010 Open Championship. He has finished runner-up in all four major championships: the 2012 Masters Tournament, the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and 2021 U.S. Open, the 2015 Open Championship, and the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. His highest placing on the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

is fourth, which he reached in January 2013.

Early life and amateur career

Oosthuizen was born in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

, South Africa. His early career was supported financially for three years by the

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

of fellow South African golfer

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

. He won numerous amateur titles before turning professional in 2002 at the age of 19. Louis Oosthuizen Telkom PGA Championship, Fourth round, 24 Feb 2008

Louis Oosthuizen Telkom PGA Championship, Fourth round, 24 Feb 2008

Professional career

He won five professional tournaments on the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

before he won on the EuropeanTour: the 2004 Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Arabella, the 2007

Dimension Data Pro-Am The Dimension Data Pro-Am is an annual golf tournament on the Southern African Sunshine Tour, founded in 1996. The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first two years. In 2020 it was co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour ...

and

Platinum Classic The Platinum Classic was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour. It was founded in 1995, and was played at the nine-hole Mooinooi Golf Club, North West Province, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is ...

, and the

Telkom PGA Championship The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afr ...

twice, in 2007 and 2008. He played on the European

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

in 2003 and has been a member of the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

since 2004. In 2009, he finished 31st on the

Race to Dubai The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

. On 10 September 2012 he reached the top 10 of the

for the first time in his career. In March 2010, he won his first European Tour event at the

Open de Andalucia de Golf Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

. The month after he won the 2010 Masters Par 3 Contest.

2010 Open Championship

Oosthuizen entered the 2010 Open Championship at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

ranked 54th in the

, 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 Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He is the current world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks in tha ...

. 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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

at St Andrews. A 69 on Saturday placed Oosthuizen at 15-under-par, and four shots clear of second-place

Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Ranking. ...

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 Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. On the 12th hole, Oosthuizen made birdie, while Casey hit his drive into a

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...

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 Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including ...

taking second. Oosthuizen became the fourth man from South Africa to win the

Claret Jug The Golf Champion Trophy, commonly known as the Claret Jug, is the trophy presented to the winner of The Open Championship (also called the "British Open"), one of the four major championships in golf. The awarding of the Claret Jug dates fr ...

– following

Bobby Locke Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won The Open Championship four times and 15 PGA Tour events in total ...

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

, and

– and moved to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, leapfrogging fellow South African

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of th ...

in 16th position. Oosthuizen said that 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

-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 The Africa Open was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour held in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was first contested in February 2008, over the Gary Player designed championship course at the Fish River Sun Country Club, near Port Alfred. In o ...

in a playoff. In 2012, Oosthuizen successfully defended his title at the

with a two stroke victory over

Tjaart van der Walt Tjaart van der Walt (born 25 September 1974) is a South African professional golfer. Career Like many top golfers, van der Walt received a golf scholarship to study in the United States, attending Central Alabama Community College. He turned ...

. 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 Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

on the second hole of

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

. 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

title at the

Maybank Malaysian Open The Malaysian Open is a men's professional golf tournament currently played on the Asian Tour. Notable past winners include world number one golfers Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood (both players winning the event on two occasions). Other notable ...

the following week. In the second event of the 2012 PGA Tour

FedEx Cup Playoffs The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Th ...

, the

Deutsche Bank Championship The Dell Technologies Championship was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Norton, Massachusetts, Norton, Massachusetts, United States, held annually in late summer over the Labor Day weekend. The 2018 edition was the last time the ...

, Oosthuizen held the 54-hole lead by three strokes and came close to his first victory on US soil, finishing second to

by one shot. On 10 September 2012, he reached the top 10 of the

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 Branden John Grace (born 20 May 1988) is a professional golfer from South Africa who currently plays for LIV Golf. He formerly played on the European Tour, the PGA Tour, and the Sunshine Tour. In 2012, he became the first player in the histor ...

. Oosthuizen finished as a joint runner-up in the 2015 Open Championship at

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 Zachary Harris Johnson (born February 24, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship. In 2023, Johnson will captain the U ...

and

Marc Leishman Marc Leishman (born 24 October 1983) is an Australian professional golfer. He has won six times on the PGA Tour. In 2009 he won the Rookie of the Year award on the PGA Tour, the first Australian to win the award. Career Leishman was born in W ...

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

, finishing a career "second-place" Grand Slam. On 9 December 2018, Oosthuizen won the South African Open. This event was co-sanctioned by the

and the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...

. In December 2019, Oosthuizen played on the International team at the

2019 Presidents Cup The 2019 Presidents Cup was the 13th edition of the Presidents Cup golf competition, held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, from 12 to 15 December 2019. Royal Melbourne previously hosted the tournament in 1998, at which the ...

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the t ...

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 Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won nine times on the PGA Tour. Kuchar briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before sufferin ...

. In May 2021, Oosthuizen finished in a tie for second place at the 2021 PGA Championship for his fifth runner-up finish in a major championship. In June, Oosthuizen finished in second place at the 2021 U.S. Open at

Torrey Pines Golf Course Torrey Pines Golf Course is a 36-hole municipal golf facility on the west coast of the United States, owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south ...

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

for a sixth major runner-up finish. In July, Oosthuizen finished in a tie for third place at the

2021 Open Championship The 2021 Open Championship, officially the 149th The Open Championship, Open Championship, was a golf tournament played 15–18 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, Sandwich, England. It was originally scheduled for 16–19 July ...

Royal St George's Golf Club The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...

Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including sev ...

, alongside

Jon Rahm Jon Rahm Rodríguez (born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer. He was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first ac ...

and behind

Jordan Spieth Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion. Spieth's first majo ...

and winner

Collin Morikawa Collin Morikawa (born February 6, 1997) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and European Tour. He began his PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive made cuts, second only to Tiger Woods' 25-cut streak. Morikawa has five PGA ...

. In June 2022, Oosthuizen joined

LIV Golf LIV Golf () is a professional golf tour financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the score if every hole on a par-72 course were birdied and the number ...

and resigned from the PGA Tour; following the commencement of the first event on 9 June 2022, the PGA Tour suspended all members who were participating in the new series, including those who had resigned, as they had not been granted a release by the tour.

Amateur wins

*2000 World Junior Championship *2001 All African Games (Kenya), Transvaal Amateur Stroke Play Championship (South Africa) *2002 Indian Amateur Open Championship (tied),

Irish Amateur Open Championship The Irish Amateur Open Championship is an amateur golf tournament held annually in Ireland and organised by the Golf Ireland. The championship has been played as a 72-hole stroke-play event since 1958. Previously it was played as a match-play to ...

, Natal Open Stroke Play Championship (South Africa)

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–3)

European Tour wins (9)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

³Co-sanctioned by the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ra ...

European Tour playoff record (1–3)

Asian Tour wins (3)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

³Co-sanctioned by the

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

Sunshine Tour wins (8)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour playoff record (2–1)

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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (2017 PGA – 2021 Open Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2021 PGA – 2021 Open Championship)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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.
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

(representing South Africa):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

(representing the International team):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oosthuizen, Louis South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers LIV Golf players Winners of men's major golf championships Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Sportspeople from the Western Cape People from Mossel Bay 1982 births Living people

Early life and amateur career

Professional career

2010 Open Championship

After 2010

Amateur wins

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (1)

European Tour wins (9)

Asian Tour wins (3)

Sunshine Tour wins (8)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

Team appearances

See also

References

External links