SAN DIEGO – Old McDonald had a farm, and so, too, does one of the first-round co-leaders of the 121st U.S. Open.
When South African Louis Oosthuizen isn’t busy plotting his away around Torrey Pines’s South Course in a very tidy score of 4-under 67, he’s dreaming of the day that he can work his farm. The question is which one? He already owns one back home in Mossel Bay, South Africa, where he grew up, and recently purchased an 86-acre plot in Ocala, Florida, horse country about 100 miles north of Tampa.
“I’m a farm boy at heart, me and the missus, and we can’t wait,” he told the Associated Press recently.
Oosthuizen’s fascination with farming is nothing new. When he won the 2010 British Open his big splurge was for a John Deere tractor.
“It was one of my big dreams,” he said at the time. “It’s for me to drive around on and I made sure there was enough space for my little daughter Jana to sit beside me. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
A few years later, Oosthuizen, toured the John Deere factory when he competed in the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, for the first time.
The 38-year-old former major winner has finished second in all four majors and five in all since hoisting the Claret Jug, most recently at the PGA Championship at Kiawah in May, when Phil Mickelson edged him and Brooks Koepka by a stroke. But in all those close calls, he’s never held or shared the first-round lead as he did after making pars on his final two holes early Friday morning, to match Russell Henley’s effort among the early finishers. A 90-minute fog delay on Thursday forced the round to spill into a second day.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to do that last night with greens being a lot bumpier in the afternoon,” Oosthuizen said. “That was one of the reasons I didn’t want to hit that long putt yesterday, but it was probably a bit faster this morning than it would have been last night, but I couldn’t see anything last night.”
Asked if there was any advantage to coming out and playing a few holes as opposed to getting more sleep, Oosthuizen made his thoughts perfectly clear.
“I’d rather have had an hour more sleep,” he said.
On Thursday, Oosthuizen made an early bogey at 11 – he started on the back nine – but bounced back with a birdie at 12 and then reeled off three birdies in a row beginning at 16. He had a clean card on the front side while adding a birdie at the fifth.
Oosthuizen has developed a reputation before playing his best golf in the biggest events, but he knows the finish line remains off in the distance.
“This golf course, there’s a lot of things that can go sideways quickly,” he said. “So, you need to keep focus and play well, and be calm.”
At No. 18 in the world, Oosthuizen still has the hunger to be a golfer first, but retirement to his other passion seems to be gaining steam by the day. After all, he’s already bought the farm.
“Honestly, I thought this time in my career I’d probably be more wanting to farm,” he told the AP. “But I sort of got that second push in the game. I really feel like I can still win a major. It’s keeping me up there and focused to work a little more. I’m getting closer. When it’s time and I feel I can’t compete, I’ll hang it up and enjoy life.”
