A (Poetic) Cheer for Louis Oosthuizen
The Royal and Ancient World today received another son who traveled to St. Andrews, speaking Afrikaans. He is not Peter Oosterhuis, nor Phil Mickelson. But now we have all learned to say “Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen.” Amid the sound of bagpipes, and cheers of Scottish folks, he won the British Open, a champ among the blokes. With Player in his history, and also Ernie Els, on this, Mandela’s birthday, he answered all the bells. With Zack Rasego on the bag, and howling winds so strong, he broke the field early, for one who was so young. With drives that cut each fairway– a surgeon with a knife; with irons shaped to find the space to give a birdie life; with putts that found the bottom of oh so many cups— he had the nerve, he had the swing, and most of all he had the game— this is the man, this is the name: Louis Oosthuizen. A champion among champions at the place where golf was born, today a boy became a man: This is the day the world cheered for Louis Oosthuizen.Daniel Mark Extrom / July 19, 2010
I wrote this last night as I was thinking about what I wanted to write about this week. It’s a very simple rhyme scheme, and even a little silly, but I kept thinking about how this 27 year old with a new baby had beaten an incredible field under difficult golf conditions, and how he seemed to have so much class and composure. I wrote a piece last year about Tom Watson’s incredible performance, and maybe I will post that one some time too. The British Open is always a great tournament, and this weekend we saw a great performance under pressure by a seemingly very nice young man. Golf is a terrific game, and all of these players are amazing! I may have this etched and send it to the Royal and Ancient. Maybe they’ll put it up in the clubhouse!
