Louis Oosthuizen

Lodewicus Theodorus “Louis” Oosthuizen was born on October 19, 1982, in Mossel Bay, South Africa. His early golfing career received financial support for three years from the foundation established by fellow South African golfer Ernie Els. Oosthuizen demonstrated early promise by winning numerous amateur titles, including the 2000 World Junior Championship, the 2001 All African Games (Kenya), and the 2002 Indian Amateur Open Championship and Irish Amateur Open Championship. He transitioned to professional golf in 2002 at the age of 19, beginning his journey on various tours.

Oosthuizen secured five professional tournament victories on the Sunshine Tour before achieving success on the European Tour. These early wins included the 2004 Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Arabella, the 2007 Dimension Data Pro-Am and Platinum Classic, and two Telekom PGA Championship titles in 2007 and 2008. He joined the European Challenge Tour in 2003 and has been a member of the European Tour since 2004. In March 2010, he won his first European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia de Golf, followed by a win at the 2010 Masters Par 3 Contest.

The defining moment of Oosthuizen’s career came at the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews, where he achieved a dominant seven-stroke victory. This win marked his first major championship and significantly elevated his international standing, moving him to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Throughout his career, Oosthuizen has consistently performed well in major championships, finishing as a runner-up across all four major golf tournaments: the 2012 Masters Tournament, the 2015 and 2021 U.S. Open, the 2015 Open Championship, and the 2017 and 2021 PGA Championship. He reached a career-high ranking of fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking in January 2013 and has accumulated 16 professional wins, including 11 European Tour titles.