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It’s Oosthuizen’s Open

I’m going out there and making a bold prediction… taking the leader after the first two days, Louis Oosthuizen to win the Claret Jug. I don’t watch much golf, and I haven’t seen much of The Open Championship this week but what I do know is consistency wins. Sure he’s got some big names chasing him on the leaderboard, but he’s put up 64 and 65 on the course the past two days. He’s gone the lowest with the most consistency thus far. That’s why he’s my bold pick to win it after the cut.

Like I mentioned already, I haven’t watched much of this year’s Open Championship. However, I did catch Oosthuizen’s final put to close out day one and the subsequent interview. I don’t remember the exact question or the exact answer but the gist of it was that he’s not getting ahead of himself. He had a solid outing and knows the weekend is going to be long. After he nearly repeated his day one score Friday he’s in prime position to get his second Major and second Claret Jug.

What does it take to win at golf? I’m not really sure, but I know two aspects are patience and consistency. Those are two things I don’t have and am a terrible golfer as a result. Obviously though based on his comments after Thursday’s round and judging by his Friday score he’s got both of those things going his way.

This isn’t his first rodeo either, which really helps in my confidence taking him. He shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the pressure that will continue to mount as the leader. And right now he’s following the formula he used for his victory in 2010. That time he went low the first three rounds scoring 65 – 67 – 69, not far off what he’s done thus far. If he breaks 70 on Saturday he’s going to have a nice lead that should take away any added pressure on Sunday. In 2010 he didn’t have a large lead through the day, but his consistency outlasted his nearest competitor, Paul Casey who scored a triple bogey in his final round to give a solid win to Oosthuizen. As it stands today he already has a 2 stroke lead, and again doesn’t need to be a hero tomorrow, just a consistent golfer.

There’s still a long way to get to Sunday. Anything can happen on any given hole and any given round, so my bold prediction while being a bit tongue and cheek still is anything but a sure thing. But I think the way Oosthuizen has approached the first two days should easily cary over into some weekend success. Only time will tell.