Louis

Oosthuizen C

Louis Oosthuizen was born in 1982 in Mossel Bay, a town in a farming region of the Western Cape province in South Africa.

While he was growing up and learning to play golf, fellow South African Ernie Els was one of the game’s leading players. And it was with the help of Els’s foundation that Oosthuizen really developed his game in his teens.

He was a prolific winner as an amateur, and among his wins were the 2000 World Junior Championship and the Irish Amateur Open in 2002.

Oosthuizen became a professional in 2002, just before his 20th birthday – and just a few weeks after he scored an astonishing round of 57 at his local Mossel Bay club. His card featured 11 birdies and two eagles, and inspired the “Louis 57” brand that he continues to use to this day.

In his first few years as a professional golfer, Louis Oosthuizen divided his time between the Sunshine Tour in southern Africa and the European Tour.

He was a regular winner on the Sunshine Tour, and took the Telkom PGA Championship, one of the biggest prizes on the calendar, in both 2007 and 2008.

His first win on the European Tour – a three-shot victory at the Open de Andalucia – came in March 2010, the year that would change his life.

When the world’s best golfers gathered that summer for The Open Championship at St Andrews, Oosthuizen had competed in eight Majors and made the cut only once.

But from the very start, it was clear that the South African was right at home at the fabled home of golf. He opened with a seven-under-par 65 and followed up with a 67 that gave him a five-stroke lead at halfway.

A third round of 69 kept him well ahead of his field and on day four, with observers expecting him to crack under the pressure of the last round of a Major, he kept up his superb form with a 71 that sealed a seven-shot victory.

It would not be the last time Oosthuizen competed strongly at St Andrews. He admits the aura of the course and the town brings out the best in him. But he also confessed it took some time before he could take a drink out of the Claret Jug.

“I was very young,” he said. “I had this thing in my mind that it was too holy to drink out of.”

Five months later he was persuaded by some friends back in South Africa to fill the historic trophy with brandy and Coke and, he said: “We had a great night!”

Over the next few years, Louis Oosthuizen was a consistent challenger and regular winner in events on the European Tour and in Africa.

He also went agonizingly close to adding a second Major title to his name, starting at the Masters in 2012. Oosthuizen was just two shots off the lead going into the final round, and he leapt to the top of the leaderboard with a stunning albatross at the second, the first ever on that hole.

Oosthuizen holed out from four feet with his putter at the 18th to set up a sudden-death playoff against Bubba Watson. At the second hole of the playoff, the 10th, the American hit an extraordinary shot from deep in the woods to 10 feet to set up the clinching par.

Oosthuizen’s next brush with destiny was at the US Open in 2015. A stunning back nine of 29 on the final day put him into a share of the lead with Jordan Spieth, but the American birdied the last to clinch a one-shot win.

Weeks later, St Andrews was again the venue for the British Open. Oosthuizen, back at the scene of his greatest triumph, was high on the leaderboard throughout and went into the final round as joint-leader.

He sank a birdie putt on the 18th to cap a round of 66 and go into a three-man, four-hole playoff in which he was beaten by American Zach Johnson by a single shot.

Oosthuizen went amazingly close to that elusive second Major in 2021. He finished tied for second at the PGA Championship, two shots back from 50-year-old Phil Mickelson.

He led deep into the final day at the US Open before being denied by Jon Rahm’s successive birdies at the 17th and 18th . And, after leading for the first three days at The Open, he fell back on the fourth as Collin Morikawa claimed victory.

Looking back in 2024, Oosthuizen told LIV Golf podcast Fairway To Heaven that that US Open three years earlier might have been the one that got away.

He said: “I was two behind Rahm so had to make eagle on the 18th , but missed the fairway. If I’d had my seven-wood in my hand I would have gone for it – but the only way I could get there was a high cut three-wood and I looked at the lie and said, ‘This can only go in the water’.

“The only other shot was a hooky seven-wood, and running it up through a 10-yard gap. Looking back, I’d have liked to drop another ball and see if I could pull that seven-wood off. Could I have done it? Looking back, probably not!”

Can he still win another Major? “I always felt I had good preparation going into a Major.

The biggest thing at a Major championship is patience – and, being so long in the game, that’s one thing I’ve learned. Never get down on yourself and never give up. 

“If you prepare for it, you’ll be fine when you come under pressure. Yes, I feel I can definitely win another Major.”

Few men have achieved a full set of runners-up finishes in all four Majors. Surely none have faced the heartache that it brings with Oosthuizen’s calm, philosophical attitude.

Louis Oosthuizen accepted an offer to join LIV Golf in the summer of 2022, and the Stinger GC team he captains had immediate success, winning the team title at the inaugural event in London.

Oosthuizen and his three fellow South Africans – long-time friend Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, and Dean Burmester – have competed well in the events since that day, and have a strong team spirit.

As the skipper says of his approach to team golf: “I always want everyone to have a good time and just relax and not take it too seriously – until we tee off.”

Oosthuizen is one of many leading golfers upset that his membership of LIV Golf restricts his opportunities to play in Majors where world ranking is the main qualification criterion.

“I knew the risks of joining LIV with regard to world ranking points so I knew it was going to happen, the day was going to come,” he said. “But not playing at the Masters stings.”

Louis Oosthuizen is contracted to play with at least 11 Ping clubs – so that brand dominates the answers to the question, what’s in the bag for him?

All of his woods, including the driver, are from the Ping G range. His irons are the Ping i-blade models, while his wedges are the Callaway S Grind selection.

Oosthuizen plays with a Titleist Pro V ball, and on the greens he uses a Ping Lab Design putter created just for him. One of his sponsors is SwitchGrips, which allows him to change the golf grip on his putter.

While Oosthuizen is a player who tries to perfect his game through grip and feel, rather than hours spent hitting thousands of balls on the range, he has never been afraid to switch up his putting technique if the situation demands it.

Like her husband, Nel-Mare Oosthuizen grew up on a farm in South Africa. So it’s no surprise that they live with their three daughters on an 86-acre farm in Ocala, Florida.

They bought the place early in 2021, and Oosthuizen said: “It felt like I was back in South Africa on my little piece of property. To have that in the US is a big thing. I can really shut off completely from golf.”

The ability to re-engage with family life and not have every waking thought dominated by his professional world is important to Oosthuizen.

“The biggest thing is to find that balance,” he said. “People find it in different ways…doing things with family, some guys fish, even social golf with your mates. Finding that something so you can break away a little bit.”

Oosthuizen has admitted to not picking up a club for a week after a tournament. He said: “I’ve never been someone that would stand on the range and hit thousands of golf balls… When I do, I try to make it as productive as possible.”

One of Oosthuizen’s off-course ventures was the wine company Louis 57, which was founded in 2009 and took off when he won The Open the following year. “I’m not as involved as I used to be,” he admitted in 2024, “but I still drink it!”

Louis Oosthuizen’s professional career dates back to 2002, and has seen him win numerous tournaments, challenge for Major championships, and reach the heights of No.4 in the world rankings in 2013.

In that time, he has earned more than $28million in prize money across various tours. By the end of 2024, he had received $21.7million for his play in LIV Golf events.

As well as playing with Ping clubs, Oosthuizen wears FootJoy golf shoes and has a partnership with golf apparel brand Scales.

He is also sponsored by Titleist, cyber security brand Sentinel One, air travel firm NetJets, and putter grip innovators SwitchGrips.

One of the reasons why Louis Oosthuizen prefers to work smarter than harder on the range is a tear to a tendon in his left elbow, which he suffered with in 2023.

He has also had lower back problems, and had to withdraw from the LIV Golf event in Houston in 2024 because of the pain.

Oosthuizen is known for having one of the smoothest swing styles on the circuit, but he is acutely aware of problems that can creep in – and one symptom is a twinge or two in that lower back.

It is hard, though, to imagine anything disturbing the balanced, philosophical approach Oosthuizen applies to all aspects of life – his golf, his leadership of Stinger GC, and his life with his wife and children.

Asked in 2024 for the life lessons he wants to pass on to his children, his response was typically classy and stylish: “Be grateful, always be kind to other people and treat them with lots of respect.

“And enjoy life… always keep smiling.”