World Golfing News

This week's golf news was dominated by the dramatic play at St Andrews, with only one other tournament being played in the United States as the Women's and Senior's tours were in recess.

At the British Open at St Andrews in Scotland, the South African newcomer Louis Oosthuizen dazzled the crowd and his fellow players with a commanding seven stroke victory, winning the first major title of his professional career. Oosthuizen, whose steady nerves and accurate play put him in the lead from day two, finished seven strokes ahead of Britain's Lee Westwood after four rounds of masterful golf.

Local favourites Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy tied for third place with Henrik Stenson of Sweden. Oosthuizen climbed to the top of the leader board on the second day of play, extending his lead into the final round. His only significant competition came from Casey who at one stage narrowed the lead to just three strokes, but squandered his opportunities to make birdie and allowed Oosthuizen to open the gap even wider. Westwood played an impressive final round to overtake Casey, but was unable to mount an attack on the South African champion, who lifted the Claret Jug in the most impressive win since Tiger Woods' eight stroke victory a decade ago. Woods himself was twelve strokes off the lead, attributing his lacklustre performance to inconsistent putting. This victory signals the beginning of an illustrious career for Oosthuizen, who at 27 shows all the signs of becoming a golfing great.

On the US PGA Tour, the Reno-Tahoe Open was won by the American Matt Bettencourt. The tournament took place at the Montreaux Golf and Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus signature course in the exclusive setting of Reno, Nevada in hot, dry weather conditions that tested golfers' endurance and concentration. Bettencourt, who carded a final score of 11 under par despite squandering two strokes of his lead over the last five holes, was spared a playoff against his nearest rival Bob Heintz when the latter failed to make birdie at the eighteenth. Bettencourt lead by three strokes before a stubborn bunker at the fourteenth and an errant shot into the rough at the fifteenth brought him within one stroke of Heintz. In the end, however, victory went to Bettencourt who now qualifies for the PGA Championship as a result of this win. Sweden's Mathias Gronberg took third place.