2010 British Open: Oosthuizen Runs Away With It

Louis Oosthuizen ran away with the 2010 British Open, winning by seven strokes over the wind-blown Old Course in St. Andrews.

Quick Bits

• Winner: Louis Oosthuizen, 272
• Dates: July 15-18, 2010
• Location: The Old Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland
• Open Championship number: This was the 138th time the British Open was played.

How Oosthuizen Closed the Door on the 2010 Open Field

Oosthuizen closed the tournament in dominating fashion, but Rory McIlroy began it that way. In the first round, McIlroy tied the major championship 18-hole record with a round of 63. But in the afternoon portion of second-round play, a powerful gale blew across the Old Course. The wind was so strong that it even halted play for a while after golf balls on some putting surfaces started wobbling or even blowing away.

McIlroy played in that second-round gale, and followed his opening 63 with an 80. Oosthuizen, however, lucked out with a morning draw, played in better (although rainy) conditions, and shot 67.

Oosthuizen took the tournament lead after the seventh hole of his second round, and never gave it up. He led by five after Round 2 and by four following Round 3. Paul Casey was the player four back heading into the final round, with everyone else farther back (next-closest was Martin Kaymer, seven behind Oosthuizen).

Casey stayed in contact with the leader through the early part of his round, but Casey's tournament chances met their doom when he triple-bogeyed the 12th hole.

Oosthuizen, ranked No. 54 in the world at the beginning of the tournament and with one European Tour victory to his credit at this time, held steady throughout the final round. He drove the par-4 ninth green and made the eagle putt. Only a bogey at the No. 17 Road Hole prevented Oosthuizen from tying the modern tournament record for largest margin of victory.

Lee Westwood finished second, and McIlroy recovered from his second-round disaster to tie for third.

Although this was the 138th time the tournament was played, it was also the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Open Championship. Golf's first major was first played in 1860.

2010 British Open Golf Tournament Scores

Results from the 2010 British Open golf tournament played on the par-72 Old Course at St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland (a-amateur):

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