155 - Louis The 16th…

All hail Louis the sixteenth! Actually he is Louis Oosthuizen and he finished sixteen under but that doesn’t sound as good, does it? The little known South African came to St Andrews and blew the rest of the field away with a fine display over the four days.

Oosthuizen shot rounds of 65, 67, 69 and 71 to take the title finishing 7 shots ahead of Lee Westwood in second. He got lucky on the second day when he got a good round in before the weather turned forcing the tournament to be suspended for a short time.

2010 Andalucia Open champion kept his nerve on the final round to ease to a drama free victory “It was unbelievable, said Oosthuizen. “After the 12th it became a bit difficult, having such a big lead, to stay calm and focused, but I’m glad I had an eight-shot lead on the 17th tee!

“I kept cool and calm the whole way but it's probably going to hit me tomorrow or next week what I’ve done.”

The contest was effectively over when the 27-year-old rolled in a 40-foot putt for an eagle on the par four 9th, just as playing partner Paul Casey was starting to apply some pressure.

Before his victory at St Andrews, Oosthuizen had struggled in his previous outings in the Open; in fact he had not made the cut in his last three attempts.

Oosthuizen is the latest South African major champions following Bobby Locke, who won at St Andrews in 1957, Gary Player, who won three Opens in three different decades, three-time major winner Ernie Els, double US Open champion Retief Goosen and 2008 Masters victor Trevor Immelman.