Starting with the opening graphs, here's James Corrigan's lede:
Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, John Daly, Tiger Woods... maybe the name Louis Oosthuizen does jar a little on this list. It shouldn't. For the manner in which the South African won the 139th Open here yesterday would have made any of his fellow St Andrews champions proud. He did not merely defeat his rivals, so much as crush them deep into the sand beneath ground.
Phillip Reid in the Irish Times:
WHO NEEDS an unpronounceable Icelandic volcano, or even a vuvuzela, when you’ve got a being by the name of Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen – pronounced “Wuhst-hy-zen” in the Afrikaner farmlands of South Africa from where he hails? Get used to the name.
Steve DiMeglio in the USA Today:
In a magical township once home to castles and cathedrals, where pathways are paved with cobblestones and structures are bruised from conflicts with storms blowing off the North Sea, a man known as Shrek to his friends delivered a fairytale ending.
Larry Dorman in the New York Times:
Throughout a march toward the British Open championship that went from improbable to inexorable with each stride down the Old Course’s hardening fairways Sunday, three things about Louis Oosthuizen did not change: his demeanor, his swing tempo and his resilience.
And the moment it seemed his grip on the claret jug might be slipping, when he missed a 15-foot putt for par on the eighth green and his lead over Paul Casey shrank to three strokes from five, Oosthuizen did what he had to do if he was going to win.
In some post play analysis, Lawrence Donegan notes this about Sunday's final pairing:
The body-language experts were on hand as the South African and Paul Casey, his playing partner for the day, were on the practice green, hitting a few putts before heading to the 1st tee. The unanimous verdict was that Oosthuizen looked the calmer of the two; serenely going about his business while the Englishman was the one initiating conversation. Oosthuizen looked equally composed out on the course, despite the inevitable pressure that comes with leading an Open. Scheduled to play in Sweden next week, where he only gained entry to the Scandinavian Masters by invitation, Oosthuizen can expect a warm reception from his fellow pros, although perhaps no one will be as delighted as Ernie Els, whose South Africa-based foundation nurtured the youthful golfer's talent. And there was plenty of talent to nurture.
Brian Keough reviews Rory McIlroy's week, quoting the 21-year-old who was gracious in defeat:
“I’m sure I’ll wake up in the morning and just look the fact I was 16 under for three rounds of golf around St Andrews in the Open and had just one bad round - it’s fine.
“I couldn’t help but think about it going up the last hole. You know, if I had just sort of stuck in a little bit more on Friday and held it together more, it could have been a different story.
Andy Farrell points out one key difference for Tiger this time around the Old Course compared to '00 when he didn't land in a bunker.
But it was the bunkers that got him. At the fourth he left a shot in a greenside bunker and at the seventh he drove up against the face of a trap and had to hit out backwards. Both mistakes cost double bogeys.
"I've got to keep building my game, putting things back to where they're more consistent day in, day out," he said. "I got to build that positive momentum and not have those holes like today where it breaks momentum."
The SI Roundtable guys had this to say about Tiger:
Shipnuck: It was a very, very hard week to putt, because of the wind, the huge undulations, the graininess of the greens, and the daily changes of the speed of the putting surfaces due to wind and rain. So I wouldn't read too much into Tiger's struggles. He'll make putts again someday, but never like he did as a fearless, carefree twentysomething.
Hack: Tiger's switching putters mid-tournament was the ultimate indication that he is in the wilderness — 99 putts over the first 3 days? What's next, a move to the long wand?
Karl MacGinty on what had to be one of the strangest sites of the weekend: Padraig Harrington grinding away on the practice tee and chipping green.
Clearly, no efforts were being spared in Harrington's bid to get his act back together as he toiled away for hours at a time under the watchful eye of his Scottish coach Bob Torrance.
With mind-guru Dr Bob Rotella and a couple of representatives of Wilson, his golf club manufacturer, also seen in attendance on Saturday, it had all the appearances of a brainstorming session.
Derek Lawrenson on what might be Monty's last Old Course Open.
Monty? Head down, shoulders slumped, he harrumphed his way over it, in time-honoured fashion. On the 17th hole, there had been one final glare at a spectator who probably blinked at the wrong moment. Heaven forbid he would look like he was enjoying his final minutes playing at the Home of Golf.
It all added up to yet more ammunition for the Monty haters, of course, but painting him as some one-dimensional Mr Grump has always been an exercise in stupidity.
Asked why he hadn’t posed on the bridge, the Scot replied: ‘That’s for the winners of this world. In fact I was thinking of walking on the plank that runs alongside it. That seemed more appropriate.’
The USA Today's Michael Hiestand on the first ESPN telecast:
Yes, it was anesthetizing. As ESPN host Mike Tirico noted as a leaderboard graphic aired over a camera shot of St. Andrews' streets, "the bus on the right is the only thing making a move." Analyst Curtis Strange noted when Oosthuizen took at eight-shot lead over playing partner Paul Casey after 12 holes, "It's like a nail vs. a hammer — not much of a battle." (As for local color, Strange suggested quaffing Guinness was like drinking motor oil.)
And finally, also about the telecast, more from the SI gang:
Evans: Too much moralizing about St. Andrews and not enough golf. The roster was packed with major champions — Watson, Weiskopf, Strange, Zinger — but they weren't as sharp as guys who do TV golf on a regular basis. It's nice to see all the coverage, but ESPN could have taken a lesson from NBC or CBS on how a wonky golf telecast is better than one that has Peter Alliss trying to summon the spirit of Old Tom Morris.
Reiterman: The HD broadcast was amazing; I've never seen a British Open look so good. ESPN had a lot of bells and whistles that were nice, especially the live ball tracker. But did anyone else find it annoying, and even a little embarrassing, that the announcers kept pronouncing Louis's name two or three different ways? It's a unique name, but by Sunday you'd think they would have figured it out.