PGA European Tour

Current season or competition: 2012 European Tour
Sport	Golf
Founded	1972
Director	Neil Coles
Country(ies)	Based in Europe. Schedule includes events outside Europe, in Asia, Africa, and the United States.
Most titles	Seve Ballesteros (50)
TV partner(s)	Sky Sports
Official website	EuropeanTour.com

The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. The European Tour is the primary golf tour in Europe and is second to the United States-based PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. The European Tour was established by the British-based Professional Golfers' Association, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984.^[1] Most events on the PGA European Tour's three tours are held in Europe, but in recent years an increasing number have been held in other parts of the world outside of North America.

The PGA European Tour is a golfer-controlled organisation whose primary purpose is to maximise the income of tournament golfers. It is a company limited by guarantee and is run by a professional staff but controlled by its playing members via a board of directors composed of 12 elected past and present tour players and a tournament committee of 14 current players. As of 2007, the chairman of the board is Neil Coles and the chairman of the tournament committee is Thomas Bjørn.

The European-based events on the European Tour are nearly all played in Western Europe and the most lucrative of them take place in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain.

The PGA European Tour also conducts the Ryder Cup Matches in cooperation with the PGA of America.

History[link]

Professional golf began in Europe, specifically in Scotland. The first professionals were clubmakers and greenkeepers who also taught golf to the wealthy men who could afford to play the game (early handmade equipment was expensive) and played "challenge matches" against one another for small purses. The first multi-competitor stroke play tournament was The Open Championship, which was introduced in 1860. That year it was for professionals only, and it attracted a field of eight. The following year, amateurs were permitted to enter. In contrast to many other sports which originated in the United Kingdom, the amateur-professional divide never created major problems in golf, at least at the elite competitive level.

Over the few decades following the creation of The Open Championship, the number of golf tournaments with prize money increased slowly but steadily. Most were in the United Kingdom, but there were also several "national opens" in various countries of Continental Europe. However, for many decades it remained difficult if not impossible for golfers to earn a living from prize money alone. From 1901 the British professionals were represented by The Professional Golfers' Association, and it was this body that ultimately created the European Tour.

By the post-World War II period prize money was becoming more significant, encouraged by the introduction of television coverage. However, each event was still organised separately by a golf club or association, or a commercial promoter. In the U.S. a formal PGA Tour had existed since the 1930s, and in 1972 The Professional Golfers' Association introduced the PGA European Tour. In its early years the season ran for six months from April to October, and was based entirely in Europe, mainly in Great Britain and Ireland. For example, the 1972 season consisted of 20 tournaments, of which 12 were in the United Kingdom and one was in Ireland. Of the seven events in Continental Europe, six were "national opens", namely the Dutch, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Swiss Opens, with the seventh being the Madrid Open.

Over the next three decades the tour gradually lengthened and globalised. The first event held outside of Europe was the 1982 Tunisian Open.^[1] That year, there were 27 tournaments and the season stretched into November for the first time. In 1984, the PGA European Tour became independent of The Professional Golfers' Association.

The European Tour has always been sensitive to the risk that its best players will leave to play on the PGA Tour for many reasons. The PGA Tour usually offers higher purses and European players want to increase their chances of glory in the three majors played in the U.S. by playing on more U.S.-style courses to acclimate themselves. In an attempt to counter this phenomenon, the European Tour introduced the "Volvo Bonus Pool" in 1988. This was extra prize money which was distributed at the end of the season to the most successful players of the year—but only golfers who had played in a high number of the European Tour's events could receive a share. This system continued until 1998, after which renewed emphasis was placed on maximising prize money in individual tournaments.

In 1989, the tour visited Asia for the first time for the Dubai Desert Classic. By 1990, there were 38 events on the schedule, including 37 in Europe, and the start of the season had moved up to February. A first visit to East Asia for the Tour occurred at the 1992 Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok. This has since proven to be one of the most notable initiatives in the history of the tour, as East Asia is becoming almost its second home. Shortly afterwards the tour also made its debut in the former Soviet Bloc at the 1994 Czech Open, but much less has come of this development as participation in golf in the former Soviet region remains low and sponsors there are unable to compete financially with their Western European rivals for the limited number of slots available on the main tour each summer. However, the second-tier Challenge Tour has visited Central and Eastern Europe somewhat more frequently. In 1995, the European Tour began a policy of co-sanctioning tournaments with other PGA Tours, by endorsing the South African PGA Championship on the Southern African Tour (now the Sunshine Tour). This policy was extended to the PGA Tour of Australasia in 1996, and most extensively to the Asian Tour.

There is no overall governing body in the worldwide sport of golf. While the golf authorities in the various parts of the world cooperate harmoniously overall, there is still some rivalry. The European Tour is very self-conscious about its position relative to the PGA Tour, but the two have also steadily formed a partnership. In 1998, the European Tour added the three U.S. majors — the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open — to its official schedule. The leading Europeans had all been competing in them for many years, but now their prize money counted towards the European Tour Order of Merit, which sometimes made a great deal of difference to the end-of-season rankings. The following year three of the current four individual World Golf Championships, also usually played in America, and also offering far more prize money than most European events, were established and added to the European Tour schedule.

Since the minimum number of events that a player must play to retain membership of the European Tour has long been eleven, this meant that international players could become members of the tour by playing just four events on it apart from the majors and the World Golf Championships, which all elite players enter in any case. Players such as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have taken advantage of this to play the PGA and European Tours concurrently and even Tiger Woods, who has sometimes played nine of the necessary eleven events, once suggested that he might enter the extra four required so that he could win the European Order of Merit, although he has yet to do so. For the 2009 season, the number of minimum events required for members was increased to twelve; this coincided with the elevation of the HSBC Champions, previously a European Tour event co-sanctioned by three other tours, to World Golf Championships status.

Status and prize money[link]

It is beyond dispute that the European Tour is the second most important tour in men's golf, behind the PGA Tour and well ahead of all the others. What is harder to define is its standing relative to the PGA Tour and whether that has risen or fallen in recent years.

At the start of 2006 five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking were full members of the European Tour, namely Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Sergio García, Adam Scott and Colin Montgomerie. Two years later, at the start of 2008, the number of full European Tour members in the top 10 remained at five, namely Els, Justin Rose, Scott, Pádraig Harrington, and Vijay Singh. At the start of 2009, that number increased to seven—García, Harrington, Singh, Robert Karlsson, Henrik Stenson, Els, and Lee Westwood. At the start of 2010, that number went back to five, with Westwood, Harrington, and Stenson joined by Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy. Apart from McIlroy, who was only 20 years old at the end of 2009, and longtime European Tour veterans Montgomerie and Karlsson, all of the named golfers are also members of the PGA Tour, and moved to it as their main or joint main tour after playing in Europe first. Singh had largely abandoned the European Tour for the PGA Tour in the late 1990s, but rejoined the European Tour in 2006. 2010 saw much success for European Tour members, including major wins for Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer, and a victory in the 2010 Ryder Cup. Lee Westwood ended the year as world number one. As of 24 January 2011, the no. 1 and 2 positions in the golf rankings are occupied by Europeans (Westwood and Kaymer), for the first time in 18 years. Westwood, Kaymer, no. 4. McDowell and no 7. McIlroy all see the European Tour as their primary tour.

The European Tour is traditionally the first overseas move for outstanding players from non-European countries in the Commonwealth, long a major source for elite golfers, such as Greg Norman and Nick Price. These players tended to move to the PGA Tour as a second step. However, lately the European Tour is losing this role as more Commonwealth golfers choose to move directly to the U.S. There is also a current trend for young UK golfers to play primarily on the PGA Tour. In some cases, such as that of Luke Donald, this is a natural consequence after completing a golf scholarship at a U.S. university. Such scholarships are not available (or even legal) in Europe.

When Continental Europe produced its first global golf stars in the 1970s, such as Seve Ballesteros, and especially when Europe began to notch wins over the United States in the Ryder Cup in the mid 1980s, there was widespread optimism about the future standing of the European Tour relative to the PGA Tour. This has ebbed away as several major European countries, such as Germany and Italy, have not produced high-ranked golfers on a regular basis as was formerly anticipated. Nonetheless, the number of European countries which have produced winners on the European Tour has increased steadily, with notable golfing depth developing in the Scandinavian countries. The latter point is illustrated by developments in 2008 and 2009. Not only did the 2008 end-of-year world top 10 feature two Swedes (Karlsson and Stenson), but five other Swedes won events on either the PGA Tour or European Tour in 2008; Karlsson and Stenson were joined by the Dane Søren Hansen on Team Europe at the 2008 Ryder Cup; and the season-ending Volvo Masters was won in 2008 by Hansen's countryman Søren Kjeldsen. In 2009, Karlsson dropped out of the top 10 and Stenson remained. Nine Scandinavians won events on either the European or PGA Tour in 2009; four of them—Dane Jeppe Huldahl and Swedes Oskar Henningsson, Christian Nilsson, and Alexander Norén—were first-time European Tour winners.

The total 2005 prize fund on the PGA Tour is approximately $250 million. On the European Tour, it is over £80 million or around $150 million, around 60 percent of what the American tour offers. However, both of these totals include around $50 million in prize money for seven co-sanctioned events, namely the majors and the World Golf Championships. Excluding these, the European Tour offers approximately 50 percent as much prize money as the PGA Tour. It can be argued that since PGA Tour members have had far more wins and top 10 finishes in the seven co-sanctioned events in recent years, the 50 percent figure is a better reflection of the actual financial resources of the European Tour relative to its rival.

Leaving aside the majors and World Golf Championship events, which are the most lucrative on the schedule, there is still much more variation in prize funds on the European Tour than on the PGA Tour. Two key tiers can be identified: those not far away from a million Euro, and those in the three to four million Euro range. Most of the former group are for co-sponsored events outside Europe and most of the latter are for events staged in Europe. At the January 2010 exchange rate of roughly USD 1.40 per euro, the richer group of European tournaments offers purses approaching and sometimes surpassing those of typical "regular" events on the PGA Tour, with their 2010 prize funds of $5–6 million.

The prize funds of many European Tour events have increased rapidly since the late 1990s. Nonetheless, in 2005, an increasing amount of media attention was given to the perceived failure of the European Tour to attract as many leading players to its events as in the recent past. It is unclear how this contradiction between the Tour's apparently weakening on-course position and its seemingly strong sponsorship position will play out in the future. The role of Asia may be crucial; in November 2005 a new European Tour-sanctioned event in China called the HSBC Champions tournament was played for the first time. With a purse of $5 million, it was by far the richest tournament ever played in Asia. It now has a purse of $7 million, and became a World Golf Championships event starting in 2009.

In a decision that, according to the Associated Press, "reflects the changing nature of a global game", one of the top young American amateurs, Peter Uihlein, announced in December 2011 that he would not return for his final semester at Oklahoma State University and would begin professional play in Europe the following month—both through sponsor's exemptions on the main tour and on the developmental Challenge Tour.^[2]

The structure of the European Tour season[link]

Outline of the season[link]

From 2000 until 2011 the season has actually started late in the previous calendar year, but the seasons are still named by calendar year, rather than for example 2005–06, which would reflect the actual span of play. All of the events up until late March take place outside of Europe, with most of these being co-sanctioned with other tours. From then on, the tour plays mainly in Europe, and the events in its home continent generally have higher prize money than those held elsewhere, excluding the major championships, which were added to the tour schedule in 1998; three individual World Golf Championships events, added the following year, most of which take place in the United States; and the HSBC Champions, elevated to World Golf Championships status in 2009.

From 2012, the European Tour reverted to seasons coinciding with the calendar year.

There are generally only minor variations in the overall pattern from one year to the next. Occasionally tournaments change venue, and quite often change name, particularly when they get a new sponsor, but the principal events have fixed and traditional places in the schedule, and this determines the rhythm of the season.

Race to Dubai[link]

In 2009, the Order of Merit was replaced by The Race To Dubai, with a bonus pool of $7.5 million^[3] (originally $10 million) to be distributed among the top 15 players at the end of the season, of which the winner takes $1.5 million^[3] (originally $2 million). The new name reflects the addition of a new season ending tournament, the Dubai World Championship, held at the end of November in Dubai. The tournament also has a $7.5 million prize fund^[3] (originally $10 million), and will be contested by the leading 60 players in the race following the seasons penultimate event, the Hong Kong Open. The winner of the Race To Dubai also receives a ten-year European Tour exemption, while the winner of the Dubai World Championship tournament receives a five-year European Tour exemption.^[4][5][6][7] The reduction in prize money, announced in September 2009,^[3] was due to the global economic downturn.

2012 season[link]

Order of Merit winners[link]

The European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit" until 2009, when it was replaced by the Race to Dubai. It is calculated in euro, although around half of the events have prize funds which are fixed in other currencies, mainly pounds sterling or U.S. dollars. In these instances, the amounts are converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament is played. The winner of the Order of Merit receives the Harry Vardon Trophy, not to be confused with the Vardon Trophy awarded by the PGA of America.

Year	Race to Dubai leader	Country	Earnings (€)
2011	Luke Donald	England	5,323,400
2010	Martin Kaymer	Germany	4,461,011
2009	Lee Westwood	England	4,237,762
Year	Order of Merit leader	Country	Earnings (€)
2008	Robert Karlsson	Sweden	2,732,748
2007	Justin Rose	England	2,944,945
2006	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	2,489,337
2005	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	2,794,223
2004	Ernie Els	South Africa	4,061,905
2003	Ernie Els	South Africa	2,975,374
2002	Retief Goosen	South Africa	2,360,128
2001	Retief Goosen	South Africa	2,862,806
2000	Lee Westwood	England	3,125,147
1999	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	1,822,880
Year	Order of Merit leader	Country	Earnings (£)
1998	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	993,077
1997	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	798,948
1996	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	875,146
1995	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	835,051
1994	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	762,720
1993	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	613,683
1992	Nick Faldo	England	708,522
1991	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	545,354
1990	Ian Woosnam	Wales	574,166
1989	Ronan Rafferty	Northern Ireland	400,311
1988	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	451,560
1987	Ian Woosnam	Wales	253,717
1986	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	242,209
1985	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	162,553
1984	Bernhard Langer	West Germany	139,344
Year	Official Money List leader	Country	Earnings (£)
1983	Nick Faldo	England	119,416
1982	Greg Norman	Australia	66,406
1981	Bernhard Langer	West Germany	81,036
1980	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	66,060
Year	Order of Merit leader	Country	Earnings (£)
1979	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	49,233
1978	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	54,348
1977	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	46,436
1976	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	39,504
1975	Dale Hayes	South Africa	20,508

Before 1975 the Order of Merit was based on a points system, so it was not necessarily headed by the golfer who won the most money.

Year	Order of Merit leader	Country	Earnings (£)	Leading money winner	Country	Earnings (£)
1974	Peter Oosterhuis	England	32,127	Peter Oosterhuis	England	32,127
1973	Peter Oosterhuis	England	17,455	Tony Jacklin	England	24,840
1972	Peter Oosterhuis	England	18,525	Bob Charles	New Zealand	18,538
1971	Peter Oosterhuis	England	9,270	Gary Player	South Africa	11,281

Multiple winners - Order of Merit[link]

Rank	Player	Country	Wins	Last Win	First Win
1	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	8	2005	1993
2	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	6	1991	1976
3	Peter Oosterhuis	England	4	1974	1971
4	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	3	1985	1979
T5	Lee Westwood	England	2	2009	2000
	Ernie Els	South Africa	2	2004	2003
	Retief Goosen	South Africa	2	2002	2001
	Nick Faldo	England	2	1992	1983
	Ian Woosnam	Wales	2	1990	1987
	Bernhard Langer	West Germany	2	1984	1981

The European Tour officially began in 1972, but there is a money list for 1971 on the Tour's official site and unofficial or semi-official money lists existed before that. For full Order of Merit details for each season from 1971 onwards, see here [1].

Leading career money winners[link]

The table below shows the top 10 career money leaders on the European Tour after the 2011 season. Due to increases in prize money over the years, it is dominated by current players. The figures are not the players' complete career earnings as most of them have earned millions more on other tours (especially the PGA Tour) or from non-tour events. In addition, elite golfers often earn several times as much from endorsements and golf-related business interests as they do from prize money.

Rank	Player	Country	Prize money (€)
1	Lee Westwood	England	26,346,678
2	Ernie Els	South Africa	26,222,911
3	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	24,360,237
4	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	22,486,192
5	Retief Goosen	South Africa	21,109,519
6	Darren Clarke	Northern Ireland	19,713,018
7	Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Spain	18,982,599
8	Sergio García	Spain	16,453,873
9	Ian Poulter	England	15,428,326
10	Thomas Bjørn	Denmark	15,374,448

As of end of 2011 season.

There is a list of the top 100 on the European Tour's website here [2].

Golfers and rookies of the year[link]

The European Tour's Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award is named after the English three-time Open Champion Sir Henry Cotton. The winner is now selected by a panel comprising the PGA European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St.Andrews and the Association of Golf Writers. It is usually given to the rookie who places highest on the Order of Merit, but this is not always the case. The award predates the founding of the formal tour in 1972. There have been five years when no award was made.

Year	Golfer of the Year	Country	Rookie of the Year	Country
2011	Luke Donald	England	Tom Lewis	England
2010	Martin Kaymer & Graeme McDowell (shared)	Germany  Northern Ireland	Matteo Manassero	Italy
2009	Lee Westwood	England	Chris Wood	England
2008	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	Pablo Larrazábal	Spain
2007	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	Martin Kaymer	Germany
2006	Paul Casey	England	Marc Warren	Scotland
2005	Michael Campbell	New Zealand	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño	Spain
2004	Vijay Singh	Fiji	Scott Drummond	Scotland
2003	Ernie Els	South Africa	Peter Lawrie	Ireland
2002	Ernie Els	South Africa	Nick Dougherty	England
2001	Retief Goosen	South Africa	Paul Casey	England
2000	Lee Westwood	England	Ian Poulter	England
1999	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	Sergio García	Spain
1998	Lee Westwood	England	Olivier Edmond	France
1997	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	Scott Henderson	Scotland
1996	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	Thomas Bjørn	Denmark
1995	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	Jarmo Sandelin	Sweden
1994	Ernie Els	South Africa	Jonathan Lomas	England
1993	Bernhard Langer	Germany	Gary Orr	Scotland
1992	Nick Faldo	England	Jim Payne	England
1991	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	Per-Ulrik Johansson	Sweden
1990	Nick Faldo	England	Russell Claydon	England
1989	Nick Faldo	England	Paul Broadhurst	England
1988	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland
1987	Ian Woosnam	Wales	Peter Baker	England
1986	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	José María Olazábal	Spain
1985	Bernhard Langer	Germany	Paul Thomas	Wales
1984			Philip Parkin	Wales
1983			Grant Turner	England
1982			Gordon Brand Jnr	Scotland
1981			Jeremy Bennett	England
1980			Paul Hoad	England
1979			Mike Miller	Scotland
1978			Sandy Lyle	Scotland
1977			Nick Faldo	England
1976			Mark James	England
1975			No award
1974			Carl Mason	England
1973			Pip Elson	England
1972			Sam Torrance	Scotland
1971			David Llewellyn	Wales
1970			Stuart Brown	England
1969			Peter Oosterhuis	England
1968			Bernard Gallacher	Scotland
1967			No award
1966			Robin Liddle	Scotland
1965			No award
1964			No award
1963			Tony Jacklin	England
1962			No award
1961			Alex Caygill	England
1960			Tommy Goodwin	England

Multiple winners - Golfer of the Year[link]

Rank	Player	Country	Wins	Last Win	First Win
1	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	4	1999	1995
T2	Lee Westwood	England	3	2009	1998
	Ernie Els	South Africa	3	2003	1994
	Nick Faldo	England	3	1992	1989
	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	3	1991	1986
T6	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	2	2008	2007
	Bernhard Langer	Germany	2	1993	1985

See also[link]

• Alps Tour, EPD Tour, PGA EuroPro Tour and Nordic League: the four third-tier tours in Europe. They are recognised by the PGA European Tour, but it does not operate them.
• Challenge Tour: the second-tier tour operated by the PGA European Tour.
• European Seniors Tour: the over-50s tour operated by the PGA European Tour.
• Golfers with most European Tour wins
• Ladies European Tour: the top European women's professional tour.
• PGA Tour: top professional tour, based in the United States.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site

Louis Oosthuizen
Oosthuizen after winning the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Personal information
Full name	Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen
Born	(1982-10-19) 19 October 1982 (age 29) Mossel Bay, South Africa
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	159 lb (72 kg; 11.4 st)
Nationality	South Africa
Residence	Mossel Bay, South Africa Manchester, England[1]
Spouse	Nel-Mare (m. 2007)
Partner	Jana, Sophia
Career
Turned professional	2002
Current tour(s)	European Tour Sunshine Tour PGA Tour
Professional wins	10
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	1
European Tour	5
Sunshine Tour	7
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	2nd: 2012
U.S. Open	T9: 2011
The Open Championship	Won: 2010
PGA Championship	73rd: 2008

Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈlu.i ˈoəst.ɦœjzən]^[2] born 19 October 1982) is a South African professional golfer who won the 2010 Open Championship and was runner-up in the 2012 Masters Tournament.

Early life and career[link]

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.^[3] He won numerous amateur titles before turning professional in 2002 at the age of 19.

Oosthuizen at the 2008 Telkom PGA Championship

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. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

In March 2010, he won his first European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia de Golf.^[4] He also won the 2010 Masters Par 3 Contest.^[5]

2010 Open Championship[link]

Oosthuizen entered the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews ranked 54th in the Official World Golf Rankings,^[6] and only having made one cut in eight major championship appearances.^[7] He shot a 65 on the first day, placing him in second place, behind a 63 shot by Rory McIlroy.^[8]

Oosthuizen's 67 on Friday was the low round of the day^[8] and gave him a lead that he would not relinquish throughout the final two rounds.^[9] His two-day total of 132 tied the record for the lowest 36-hole score in an Open Championship at St Andrews.^[10] A 69 on Saturday placed Oosthuizen at 15-under-par, and four shots clear of second-place Paul Casey with one round to play.^[11]

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.^[12] 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.^[12][13] 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 Rankings,^[14][15] 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.^[16]

After 2010[link]

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.^[17] 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.^[18]

Oosthuizen was runner-up at the 2012 Masters Tournament. In the final round, he hit 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.^[19] The following week he won his fifth European Tour title at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

Amateur wins (6)[link]

• 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 Stroke Play Championship, Natal Open Stroke Play Championship (South Africa)

Professional wins (10)[link]

Oosthuizen at the 2007 Valle Romano Open at the Aloha Golf Club, Marbella, Spain

European Tour wins (5)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	28 Mar 2010	Open de Andalucia de Golf	–17 (67-63-66-67=263)	3 strokes	Richard Finch, Peter Whiteford
2	18 Jul 2010	The Open Championship	–16 (65-67-69-71=272)	7 strokes	Lee Westwood
3	9 Jan 2011	Africa Open (co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour)	–16 (70-67-69-70=276)	Playoff	Manuel Quirós, Chris Wood
4	8 Jan 2012	Africa Open (co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour)	–27 (69-62-67-67=265)	2 strokes	Tjaart van der Walt
5	15 Apr 2012	Maybank Malaysian Open (co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour)	–17 (66-68-69-68=271)	3 strokes	Stephen Gallacher

Sunshine Tour wins (7)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	19 Sep 2004	Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Arabella	–1 (74-70-71=215)	1 stroke	Keith Horne
2	28 Jan 2007	Dimension Data Pro-Am	–11 (66-71-71-69=277)	1 stroke	Omar Sandys
3	25 Feb 2007	Telkom PGA Championship	–22 (67-65-69-65=266)	1 stroke	Richard Sterne
4	27 Oct 2007	Platinum Classic	–11 (64-71-70=205)	Playoff	Marc Cayeux, Adilson da Silva
5	24 Feb 2008	Telkom PGA Championship	–28 (66-63-66-65=260)	14 strokes	Hennie Otto
6	9 Jan 2011	Africa Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	–16 (70-67-69-70=276)	Playoff	Manuel Quirós, Chris Wood
7	8 Jan 2012	Africa Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	–27 (69-62-67-67=265)	2 strokes	Tjaart van der Walt

Major championships[link]

Wins (1)[link]

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
2010	The Open Championship	4 shot lead	−16 (65-67-69-71=272)	7 strokes	Lee Westwood

Results timeline[link]

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary[link]

• Tournaments played: 15
• Wins: 1
• 2nd: 1
• 3rd: 0
• Top 10s: 3
• Top 25s: 3
• Missed cuts: 10
• Most consecutive cuts made: 2

Results in World Golf Championship events[link]

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances[link]

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy (representing South Africa): 2002

Professional

• World Cup (representing South Africa): 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• Louis Oosthuizen at the European Tour official site
• Louis Oosthuizen at the Sunshine Tour official site
• Louis Oosthuizen at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Listen to Louis Oosthuizen say his name