With a score of -12 after 54 holes, Louis Oosthuizen is having the opportunity to be among the few champions from an overwhelming lead at major The Open.
Oosthuizen hits the ball on the green of hole 7 of the third round of The Open at Royal St George’s, Sandwich, England on July 17. Image: AP
Since 1945, The Open has recorded only three golfers who have monopolized the top of the table in the first three rounds and then crowned, including Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tiger Woods (2005) and Rory McIlroy (2014). If you consider it more “open” – in the area of ”continuously sharing the top”, the major by Royal & Ancient 76 years ago added Lee Trevino (1971), Gary Player (1974) and Spieth (2017).
This year, Oosthuizen led alone through the first three rounds with a record of 64-65-69 respectively at Royal St. George’s par 70 in Sandwich, England. When closing the second match at the top, the South African golfer born in 1982 also broke the 36-hole The Open record – 129 strokes, one stroke less than the previous ceiling of 130 strokes set by Sir Nick Faldo in Muirfield in 1992 and Brandt Snedeker at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012.
After these two rounds, right behind Oosthuizen with -11, are two American players – Collin Morikawa two strokes away, and Jordan Spieth three strokes away.
Yesterday, Oosthuizen scored three birdies and two bogeys. He went to the green according to the standard 11 holes, hitting 10 of the 14 fairways, which were narrow, with rough on both sides from natural buffalotail grass that was at least half full.
Oosthuizen has a great opportunity to join the group of not many leading golfers for three rounds and then take the throne in the final round of The Open. Image: OUT
Although Oosthuizen closed the penultimate match at -1, the order of the top 3 remained unchanged from the beginning of the round. But now, Morikawa scores -11, one stroke away from Oosthuizen while Spieth scores -9.
“Keeping the top is fun, but next time I have to fight better, with all my heart and soul to see if I can lift the Claret Jug again. Second place is not good at all,” Oosthuizen said before leaving to recuperate for the day. Closing The Open 2021.
Oosthuizen won The Open in 2010 on the Old Course of St. Andrews has been honored by experts as “the cradle of world golf”. After this breakthrough victory, Oosthuizen added six times to second in the events of the traditional major quartet in the annual order of the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and The Open.
In 2021, he has twice finished second at the major – behind Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship in May, and Jon Rahm at the US Open in June. In addition to the prestigious The Open, Oosthuizen has eight European Tour titles after 19 years as a professional.
Quoc Huy
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