ATLANTA (Reuters) - Louis Oosthuizen may be ranked 51st in the world but, according to former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, the South African is technically the game’s best player.
“All things being equal ... I think Louis is the best golfer in the world, but he just doesn’t shoot the scores,” Australian Geoff Ogilvy told reporters on the eve of this week’s Tour Championship. “The way he swings and the way he chips, I just love watching his game.
“You guys (reporters) probably think that’s a ridiculous statement, but he just makes golf look too easy to me,” added Ogilvy who is renowned for being a keen student of the game, its traditions and its history.
Oosthuizen is not among the elite field of 30 competing for this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club but he proved his champion pedigree by romping home to win last year’s British Open at St. Andrews.
The smooth-swinging South African brought the famed Old Course, and the rest of the field, to its knees with a superb display of ball-striking as he swept to a seven-stroke victory.
“I don’t understand why he doesn’t win all the time or at least contend all the time,” said Ogilvy, who has triumphed seven times on the PGA Tour, including the 2006 U.S. Open.
“... he’s my golf hero, if you like, because I just love watching him play.”
Oosthuizen, 28, has won five titles on his home Southern African Tour and three on the European Tour -- the 2010 British Open, the 2010 Andalucia Open and this year’s Africa Open.
However, he has produced erratic form on the PGA Tour this season with five missed cuts and just one top-10 in 13 starts -- a tie for ninth at the U.S. Open.
Editing by Frank Pingue
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.