Louis Oosthuizen gave South Africa another reason to stick out its chest by winning the British Open in a dominating romp — on former South African president Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday, no less.
One week after beaming in pride at its historic hosting of soccer’s World Cup, the nation torn apart by apartheid just a generation ago watched as a white Afrikaner with a black caddie on his bag crossed over the Swilcan Bridge, tapped in the last putt and lifted the claret jug.
Oosthuizen just wanted to celebrate the moment with family and friends. Others realized there was something more significant going on at the Old Course, another instance of sports transcending a societal divide.
“It’s fantastic,” said Gary Player, the most prominent golfer to come out of South Africa. “Wonderful things are happening to South Africa. I went back for the final match of the World Cup and they did a way better job than people imagined.”
Of course, soccer’s biggest event won’t solve the everyday problems and racial tensions that still linger in South Africa. Nor will one man winning a golf tournament.
However, there’s no denying the pride felt by those who cheered on Oosthuizen while waving the post-apartheid colors of their nation — red, blue, green, yellow and black — or wearing jackets and shirts bearing the words Bafana Bafana, the nickname of South Africa’s soccer team.
“It is a great event for all South Africans, especially because it is the birthday of Nelson Mandela,” said caddie Zack Rasego, who usually converses with Oosthuizen in Afrikaans, the language despised by blacks during apartheid as a symbol of the ruling white minority. “It’s a great day for us.”
It was a great week for Oosthuizen, who started the week as such an unknown that the Royal and Ancient felt compelled to put out a fact sheet with 11 things one needed to know about the 27-year-old from Mossel Bay.
None of those tidbits was as compelling as his golf game, which was rock-solid for all four rounds and never gave anyone a chance to make it close. He led over the final 48 holes of the championship, closing with a one-under 71 that left him at 16-under 272 overall.
No one else was within seven strokes.
“It felt a bit special out there,” he said.
Top South African politicians said on Sunday that Oosthuizen had done his country proud with his victory in the British Open.
South African Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile and the country’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), said Oosthuizen’s victory underlined South Africa’s credentials as a winning nation in sport.
“Coming only days after we had successfully hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Louis Oosthuizen’s win of the British Open golf championship in Scotland makes us really proud,” Stofile said.
The ANC was equally delighted with Oosthuizen’s triumph in Scotland.
“This shows that besides hosting soccer and cricket international tournaments successfully, we are an excelling sporting nation,” ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said. “Louis Oosthuizen’s victory shows clearly that South Africa has the capacity to do other things and do them successfully, we are really proud of his performance.”
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