WEBHEADLINE Oosthuizen quite happy to plough his own furrow

XXXXXXAs expected from a farmer, Louis Oosthuizen has surveyed the land at Sandwich and consulted the weather forecasts. He suspects that the wind is bound to get up, as it did at St Andrews last year. Whether it blows him into the exclusive club of successful defenders of the Claret Jug title remains to be seen.

No-one is making any great claim on behalf of Oosthuizen, nor is he making one himself. “From here on out you are not the Open champion anymore...well, unless...,” he said yesterday, when asked whether if it will a relief to move on past the first defence of the trophy.

He barely seems to believe it is possible that he might make the engraver earn his money by carving Oosthuizen onto the Claret Jug again. And let’s face it, there are few outwith his family, friends and the publicity department for John Deere farm machinery who would exalt in his name being added to the roll call of winners for a second time. Oosthuizen came from nowhere last year at St Andrews. While his victory was rarely thrilling, it was memorable. But he might find the novelty factor has worn off as he begins his defence.

In a tournament denied Tiger Woods, there is a thirst for glitter dust. Oosthuizen might provide the dust, picked up in the tread of his shoes from the South African farm he returns to whenever he can. However, he himself would admit he can offer precious little of the glitter. He contemplated the notion of fame yesterday and didn’t manage to make it sound as though he was completely comfortable with his new, higher-profile life.

“I don’t know if ‘enjoying’ is the word,” he said. “If you are going to play well, you are eventually going to be in the spotlight. It’s part of the package. I don’t mind it, but it’s not a thing you go out to find. If I do well and I’m in it, then it’s another thing I need to be ready for.” A positive outcome from being better known is that his surname is not mispronounced so often, although it still does not run off the tongue, even within the golfing fraternity. “I know it’s not the easiest surname,” he shrugged.

It clearly does not bother Oosthuizen to any great extent, although Ivor Robson will no doubt offer him a lyrical as well as correctly pronounced – it is West-huizen – welcome on to the first tee at 2.21pm on Thursday, while also reminding spectators and viewers that he is the reigning champion. Oosthuizen himself could do with this boost to his confidence. “It’s been a bit slow after the Open,” he conceded yesterday. He found some form when winning the African Open at the start of this year, but has endured an injury-hit year since charting such a steady course to victory at the Old Course last year. Oosthuizen is an equable character. The most animated he got yesterday was when recounting a visit to the John Deere factory in Moline, prior to last week’s John Deere Classic. It did little to dissuade observers from the perception that he is the ultimate country boy. Neither does knowledge of the circumstances in which he sustained an unhelpful injury last year, one which prevented him from returning to St Andrews for the Dunhill Links Championship in October. He damaged his ankle while on a hunting expedition during the celebrations for the wedding of Charl Schwartzel, his compatriot, friend and fellow major champion. An outdoor life is the norm for Oosthuizen, and he has made a lucrative career from it. More lucrative, certainly, than had he stayed at home on the farm his family run in Mossel Bay. From time to time there are reminders of the life he left, even in a golf life that swings between the European and American tours. “It was a big dream of mine going there to the harvest work factory,” is not a sentence you expect to hear uttered by a reigning Open champion. “It was like a big play area for men,” he added, with reference to being invited to clamber over the combine harvesters and assorted agricultural equipment in Illinois.

He even took one of the combine harvesters for a quick spin. Presumably, this invitation to the John Deere factory was a thank-you for the publicity he granted the company with when admitting that the first item of significance he bought after being presented with a £850,000 cheque for last year’s Open win was a John Deere tractor. Even as recently as last week he was quoted as saying, in an interview ahead of the John Deere Classic, that “if you’ve got a tractor it’s got to be green”. But how it’s back to work. His mode of transport from Illinois to Kent illustrates just how much his life has changed since being accepted into the Ernie Els foundation 12 years ago. He travelled by charter plane from the States, landing at 11am yesterday morning.

He hasn’t gone completely Donald Trump on us, however. There were a few players on the flight, including the victor at the John Deere Classic, Steve Stricker. “It felt like a big team on the plane,” said Oosthuizen, who will be striking out on Thursday in a high profile group made up by Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson. They both might expect to be in contention come Sunday. But Oosthuizen has been there, done it. He’s taken the Claret Jug back to the local cliff-top nine-hole course where he first learned the game. “Having the Claret Jug there at a golf club that’s probably got 42, 43 members which are basically field farmers, and a few guys that are in town, and is where I grew up, that was quite a special moment for me,” he said.