Louis Oosthuizen Looks to Overcome Recent Near-Misses in Quest for Second Major Title

Louis Oosthuizen, runner-up at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, enters Royal St. George's in top form and with renewed perspective.

SANDWICH, England — In 2011, Louis Oosthuizen visited Royal St. George's as defending champion with a game that wasn’t at its best. He didn’t break par in four days while finishing T54, far behind eventual winner Darren Clarke. Oosthuizen wasn't totally surprised by his lackluster week. He'd had a roller-coaster year since winning the Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2010.

Now 38, the South African comes to Royal St. George’s as one of the favorites after just missing out on a second major title with runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open earlier this year. His record since his Open win in 2010 includes five runner-up finishes in majors, including a playoff loss to Zach Johnson in the Open at the Old Course in 2015.

“I remember being very nervous in 2011, sort of coming off of being the defending champion,” Oosthuizen said in a press conference on Wednesday. “I remember the golf course playing difficult, and especially that Saturday morning. Rain was coming in sideways, and I was happy making the cut that week and just being there on the weekend.”

With the final major of the year starting Thursday, Oosthuizen sat confidently — his world rank is up to 13, even with disappointments at Kiawah Island and Torrey Pines. He understands that while it wasn’t meant to be those weeks, there is no reason why this can’t be the week he finally wins a second major.

Oosthuizen seemed to do everything he needed to win, but was simply beaten by someone a little better that day. That understanding would be harder to glean earlier in his career, but today he understands that there is no way he could've stopped the putts that Jon Rahm made down the stretch on the 17th and 18th holes on Sunday at Torrey to win the U.S. Open.

“I think if it was a case where I completely collapsed the last four or five holes or something like that, it would be something I would look into a lot more,” Oosthuizen said when asked why he wasn't making major changes to his game. “Like speak to someone. I might not be mentally strong enough or somewhere in my game and the pressure collapsed. But in those two cases I don't think that was the case. I played really well. Yeah, I hit an errant shot on 17, I took it on off the tee, but I was in it the whole time.”

Oosthuizen starts his quest for a second major at 5:58 a.m. (ET) on Thursday paired with defending champion Shane Lowry and Rahm, who was briefly world No. 1 until Dustin Johnson moved back into the top spot by percentage points last week.

“When it comes to a tournament, and as massive as a major is and you come that close, it definitely sticks with you a little bit longer,” Oosthuizen said. “You sort of just have to get over it and get on with it and see if you can do better in the next tournament. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to go forward.”

By all accounts, Oosthuizen could be looking at his main competition as Rahm is the favorite in Las Vegas at 9-1 while Oosthuizen is 30-1, not a bad bet, if you are into that type of thing.

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