Louis Oosthuizen, Collin Morikawa chase their own history at the Open

A win tomorrow at the Open Championship would mean everything to Louis Oosthuizen and Collin Morikawa, but not for the same reasons

Eleven years is a long time in the life of a professional golfer.

Eleven years ago, Jordan Spieth was still in high school and Collin Morikawa, just barely a teenager, was playing junior golf events in California.

Louis Oosthuizen is carrying the burden of those 11 years into the final round of the Open Championship on Sunday at Royal St George’s. It’s been more than a decade of near-misses, agonizing defeats, and so-close-but-so-far away for the South African since his lone triumph at St Andrews in 2010.

He can change that on Sunday. Oosthuizen will take a one-shot lead over Morikawa into the final round, 18 holes away from forever removing the moniker that’s clung to him of being a player that can’t quite close the deal in golf’s biggest events.

Oosthuizen has finished runner-up in the major championships six times since 2010. He’s one of eight players to have been second in all four majors; of that group, he’s the only one who has won just one major. Already this year, he’s lost to 50-year-old Phil Mickelson at Kiawah Island and had Jon Rahm steal the U.S. Open trophy with two long putts on the final two holes.

Throughout all this anguish, Oosthuizen has never changed his demeanor. He still has the smooth, picturesque swing and the steely nerves on the greens. Even in the third round of the Open on Saturday, after he saw a two-shot lead disappear with two bogeys in the span of three holes, he came back with a brilliant approach shot to eight feet on the par-three 16th to get to 12-under, a shot ahead of Morikawa and three ahead of Spieth.

He has just one goal on Sunday: make sure nobody slips past him again. “Go one better,” he said following his round. “You know, finishing second isn’t great, so I will play my heart out tomorrow and see if I can lift the Claret Jug again.”

Challenger Morikawa finds himself in a brand-new situation for him

Oosthuizen has been in this situation many times; in addition to his 2010 victory, he lost in a playoff at St Andrews in 2015. Morikawa hasn’t. How could he? This is the 24-year-old’s first appearance in the Open.

But Morikawa has taken to links golf perfectly. He didn’t like how his irons felt last week at the Scottish Open, so he changed them. He didn’t like his tempo and speed on the greens, so we ditched his saw grip in favor of a more conventional one on long putts. It’s working like a charm.

Morikawa was two-over through five holes on Saturday before scratching his way back into contention with four birdies the rest of the round. It’s an unfamiliar position for him, but he’s not going to abandon the game plan that has served him well for 54 holes.

“You build a game plan and we see what we need to do all the way (through) the tournament and I stick to it. That is exactly what I am going to try and do tomorrow,” he said. “Obviously, being in a final round at a major is different, but I’m going to try and keep it as similar as possible to every other tournament I’ve played. Hopefully, trust the process and just be committed with that.”

Morikawa is already a major champion, having lifted the Wanamaker Trophy last August. He’s playing in only his eighth major this week. Tiger Woods didn’t win two majors within his first eight appearances; Jack Nicklaus wasn’t a champion in his first time playing two different majors. Morikawa can be the first player ever to do both on Sunday.

He’ll play with Oosthuizen in the final group for the second consecutive day. The two of them are separated in age by nearly 15 years and have vastly different resumes, but they share one thing in common: lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday will change their careers forever.