[The Open] Oosthuizen "Surprise 6-Under Lead"... What About 'Top Favorite' Rahm?

149th The Open Day 1 'Runner-up Career Grand Slam Power', Spieth Chasing 2nd Place, An Byeonghun Tied 9th Strong Performance

Louis Oosthuizen is teeing off at the 17th hole on the first day of the 149th Open. Sandwich, England=Getty Images/Multivitz

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] It was a surprising 6-under-par surge by ‘Shrek’ Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa).

On the 16th (Korean time) at the Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England (par 70, 7,189 yards), the first round of the 149th Open Championship, the final major of the 2021 season with a total prize of $11.5 million, took place. Oosthuizen seized an opportunity to wash away the disappointment of finishing runner-up consecutively at the PGA Championship in May and the US Open in June. Jordan Spieth (USA), the 2017 champion, is challenging to reclaim the title after four years, sitting tied for 2nd place at 5-under-par 65, just one stroke behind.

Oosthuizen is the 2010 winner of this tournament. He earned the special nickname ‘Shrek’ because he resembles the cartoon character with a gap between his front teeth. It is interesting that he has created a unique record called the ‘Runner-up Career Grand Slam.’ It started with a 2nd place at the Masters in 2012. He also finished tied for 2nd at the 2015 US Open and The Open, and tied for 2nd at the 2017 PGA Championship ? a persistent ‘2nd place jinx.’ This year, a similar pattern is continuing.

On this day, he collected six birdies. He opened the scoring with three consecutive birdies on holes 8 to 10, followed by back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14, and added another birdie on the 16th hole (par 3) near the end. Although his tee shot fairway hit rate was only 42.86%, his iron shot green hit rate was high at 77.78%, and above all, his ‘stingy putting’ averaging 1.44 putts per hole was powerful. Oosthuizen confidently promised a strong second round, saying, "It was the best play with no mistakes at all."

World No. 4 Collin Morikawa is tied for 9th at 3-under-par, and Korea’s An Byeong-hun (30, CJ Logistics) has joined this group to mount a chase. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) is tied for 19th at 2-under-par. It is surprising that Jon Rahm (Spain), the US Open champion, is tied for 74th at 1-over-par, as his iron shots faltered. ‘Hulk’ Bryson DeChambeau is also tied for 74th at 1-over-par, and ‘oldest major champion’ Phil Mickelson (both USA) has dropped to tied for 155th at 10-over-par.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.