Sandwich (United Kingdom) (AFP)

The South African Louis Oosthuizen, 2nd this year at the USPGA and at the US Open, took the lead of the British Open on Thursday, completing a first round which he described as a "perfect start" with a card 64 that none of its 155 rivals could match.

While around thirty players were finishing their sports walk by the sea, Oosthuizen, who left in the morning, had long since returned to the Royal St George's clubhouse in Sandwich (Kent), with six strokes under par, one stroke ahead of two Americans, Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman.

On the French side, among the five players involved, the very good surprise came from Benjamin Hébert: despite the wind, the player from Brive-la-Gaillarde ended his day at -4, then tied for 4th, without having conceded the slightest bogey, like Oosthuizen.

Enough to approach the 2nd round calmly on Friday morning.

Oosthuizen widened a significant gap on several favorites including Jon Rahm, winner of the last US Open and world number 2, and Shane Lowry, winner of the British Open 2019. They played with him but could not do better than 71 (+1 ) and will have to play much better on Friday to pass the cut.

Six times second in a Major, Oosthuizen nevertheless won one, the British precisely, in 2010. Very solid, he started with 7 pars, followed by three birdies between the 8 and the 10, and three more birdies on the 9 return holes to make a map blank of any bogey.

"I learned that patience is the key in the Majors, because we know that a lot of players will be doing bogeys," reacted the South African, who left at the start of the day, before the wind picked up and the greens are drying out.

Some have done too many bogeys, including Rory McIlroy who has not won a Major since 2014. In delicacy with his putting, the former world number 1 had already ruined his card, at 12, because of three bogeys from in a row between the 5 and the 7, and yet another at the 11, compensated by only two birdies.

The current world number 1, Dustin Johnson, managed his day well and finished at -2, so not far from Oosthuizen.

It's as good as Sergio Garcia, winner of the Masters 2018, who dreams of walking in England in the footsteps of Severiano Ballesteros, triple winner of "The Open".

Other bosses have lived a complicated Thursday, starting with Bryson Dechambeau, the American heavy hitter, and Lee Westwood, European number 1 last year.

They finished at +1, like Rahm and Lowry, and therefore in the middle of the table, with the risk of missing the cut on Friday night.

© 2021 AFP