Louis Oosthuizen tunes up for another run at the biggest prize

Senior Sports Writer

Wednesday 11 July 2012

As the last man to win the Open Championship in Scotland, Louis Oosthuizen is back to fire up his bid to reclaim the most sought after trophy in golf.

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Kevin Ferrie

The South African emerged from relative obscurity when he won The Claret Jug at St Andrews two years ago and showed again, this season, that he belongs among the game's elite when he tied for the lead after 72 holes of the US Masters, before losing the play-off to Bubba Watson.

He has won twice, at the Africa Open in January and the Malaysian Open the week after that impressive showing at Augusta and while his more recent performances have, in his own words, been "up and down" he knows things can turn around very quickly."At the Open ... any major, anything can happen on the week," the 29-year-old said yesterday as he honed his preparations for this week's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart."If you find something on the range on the Tuesday before the tournament then you're a completely different golfer out there, but I think confidence wise it's great the week before knowing you've played well, even if you didn't finish well."You can finish down 40th or 50th but if you felt like you've been working on something for a while and you are getting it right that week then you take a lot of confidence out of that for the next week. I'm trying to get a few things right in my swing, so this week is a big week for me just to get that confidence up there."The guys will really take the opportunity to go out this week and have a good practice for next week and it's also a good event this week with a strong field."Oosthuizen revealed he visited Lytham, the venue for the Open, last week to get acquainted with the next stop on the Tour. But a first appearance at the Scottish Open on a seaside course – the South African missed last year's tournament when it was staged here for the first time – could hardly be more inspiring for the man who won on the most famous piece of linksland in the world. "It's a great place for me to come," he said of his latest return to Scotland. "The Dunhill Links at St Andrews last year was very special. Unfortunately I had an injury two years ago when I couldn't play the Dunhill directly after winning the Open there, but I think Scotland for golf is a great place. It's a special place to be and you know when you walk on these links golf courses it's just something really special."It's nice to be on a golf course that's a bit different, a lot of shot-making and just the way it was supposed to be from the start."

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Louis Oosthuizen tunes up for another run at the biggest prize

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