Notebook, Round 4: British Open

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Weather: Mostly cloudy and breezy. Winds SW 10-15 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph. High of 72.

Louis Oosthuizen

• Carrying the largest 54-hole lead (4 strokes) into the final round of a British Open since Tiger Woods led by six at St. Andrews in 2000, Louis Oosthuizen carded a final-round 1-under 71 to move to 16-under 272 and a seven-stroke win over Lee Westwood (70).

• Oosthuizen opened the week with a 65 -- the lowest opening score by an eventual British Open winner. His score increased by two each day (65-67-69-71) but it was still plenty to record his first major win.

• Prior to this week, Oosthuizen had just one round in the 60s in 18 previous rounds in major championships, a second-round 69 en route to a missed cut at the 2006 British Open. Prior to a missed cut at the 2010 Masters, he won the annual Par-3 Contest at the Augusta National Golf Club.

• Oosthuizen's seven-stroke win is the largest in a major championship since Woods won the 2000 British Open by eights strokes. It is the largest margin by a player not named Tiger Woods since Jack Nicklaus won the 1980 PGA Championship by seven strokes over Andy Bean.

With Oosthuizen's win ...

• Records the ninth win by an international player in the last 12 events on the PGA TOUR.
• Is the 11th different player (12 total wins) to win in 2010 in his 20s, compared to 7 in 2009.
• Joins Ernie Els (2) and Tim Clark as winners on TOUR in 2010 who hail from South Africa.
• Is the 10th first-time winner on TOUR this season.
• Becomes the sixth South African to win a Major, joining Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Bobby Locke and Gary Player.

• In 16 career starts on TOUR, Oosthuizen's only other top-25 is T20 at the 2009 WGC-CA Championship.

• Oosthuizen's only other made cut in a major was a 73rd place finish at the 2008 PGA Championship:

Masters: MC-2010, MC-2009
U.S. Open: MC-2010
British Open: 1st-2010, MC-2009, MC-2006, MC-2004
PGA: MC-2009, 73rd-2008

• Only seven times in British Open history has a winner won by more than seven strokes:

• Winners of the British Open from South Africa: Locke (1949, 1950, 1952, 1957), Player (1959, 1968, 1974), Els (2002) and Oosthuizen (2010).

Countries Represented - Winners of the Open Championship
United States (27 winners, 42 wins)
Scotland (22 winners, 41 wins)
England (14 winners, 28 wins)
Australia (4 winners, 9 wins)
South Africa (4 winners, 9 wins)
Spain (1 winner, 3 wins)
Republic of Ireland (1 winner, 2 wins)
Argentina (1 winner, 1 win)
France (1 winner, 1 win)
New Zealand (1 winner, 1 win)
Northern Ireland (1 winner, 1 win)
Zimbabwe (1 winner, 1 win)

Lee Westwood

• Lee Westwood's runner-up finish is his fifth top-3 finish in his last 10 Major Championship starts:

Rory McIlroy

• Rory McIlroy, who opened the 2010 Open with a record-tying 63, carded a 4-under 68 on Sunday to finish T3. Here's a look at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship winner's record in the Majors:

• With rounds of 63-80-69-68, McIlroy was seeking to become the first major championship winner with a round in the 80s since George Duncan won the 1920 British Open with rounds of 80-80-71-72.

Paul Casey

• Paul Casey's T3 finish is his best outing in nine starts at the Open. His only other top-10 was a T7 in 2008. The 2009 Shell Houston Open winner now has five top-10 finishes on TOUR in 2010.

Henrik Stenson

• Henrik Stenson finished T3 for his fifth top-10 in his last nine major championship appearances:

• Stenson has nine starts on TOUR in 2010, with seven made cuts and this week's T3 his best finish. He has wins at the 2007 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the 2009 PLAYERS Championship.

Sean O'Hair

• Sean O'Hair has missed the cut just twice in 19 major championship appearances, with top-10 finishes at the 2010 British Open (T7) and the 2009 Masters (T10). He has never missed a cut in six starts at the British Open, with a T14 in 2006 his previous best outing before this week's T7.

Graeme McDowell

• U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell finished T23 in his seventh British Open start. His best finish at the Open is T11 at St. Andrews in 2005.

• McDowell was attempting to become just the seventh player to win the U.S. Open and the British Open in the same season, and the first since Woods in 2000, who won at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews:

Tiger Woods 2000
Tom Watson 1982
Lee Trevino 1971
Ben Hogan 1953
Gene Sarazen 1932
Bobby Jones 1930, 1926

Tiger Woods

• This week's T23 finish represented the seventh start for Woods in 2010, with top-10 finishes at the Masters Tournament (T4) and the U.S. Open (T4). In 1998, he won the BellSouth Classic in his ninth start -- his longest stretch to start a season before winning. Here's a breakdown of his career:

1996 -- won in 8th start (three amateur and five professional) starts
1997 -- won in 1st start
1998 -- won in 9th start (longest to start a season before winning)
1999 -- won in 4th start
2000 -- won in 1st start
2001 -- won in 6th start
2002 -- won in 6th start
2003 -- won in 1st start
2004 -- won in 4th start
2005 -- won in 2nd start
2006 -- won in 1st start
2007 -- won in 1st start
2008 -- won in 1st start
2009 -- won in 4th start
2010 -- winless through seven starts

Woods at the British Open

• Professional Starts: 13 (1997-2010); Wins: 3 (2000, 2005, 2006)
• Opens at St. Andrews: 4 (T68-1995, 1-2000, 1-2005, T23-2010)
• Top-10s: 7 (3-1998, T7-1999, W-2000, T4-2003, T9-2004, W-2005, W-2006)

Woods at Major Championships

• Career Professional Majors: 53
• Cuts Made: 51 (2006 U.S. Open, 2008 British Open)
• Career Major Victories: 14 (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 Masters; 2000, 2002, 2008 U.S. Open; 2000, 2005, 2006 British Open; 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 PGA Championship)
• Career Major Top-10s: 34 (11-Masters; 7-British Open; 8-PGA Championship; 8-U.S. Open)

Phil Mickelson

• Phil Mickelson posted a 3-over 75 on Sunday to finish the 2010 British Open at 1-over 289 and T48.

Mickelson at the British Open

• Professional Starts: 16 (1994-2008, 2010); Top-10s: 1 (3-2004)
• Opens at St. Andrews: 4 (T40-1995, T11-2000, T60-2005, T48-2010)

Jeff Overton

• Jeff Overton continued his excellent play of late with a T11 finish. He has four top-3 finishes in his last nine starts, including runner-up finishes at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the HP Byron Nelson Championship and 3rd-place finishes at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the AT&T National.

• This week represented Overton's fourth start in a major championship: 2010 British Open (T11), 2009 PGA Championship (T32), 2009 British Open (T13) and the 2008 British Open (T70).

Stewart Cink

• Stewart Cink finished up his title defense at 1-over 289 in his third trip to St. Andrews for the British Open (T41-2000, MC-2005, T48-2010).

• Just seven players have posted consecutive British Open victories since 1951 (16 overall): Padraig Harrington (2007-08), Woods (2005-06), Tom Watson (1982-83), Lee Trevino (1971-72), Arnold Palmer (1961-62) and Peter Thomson (1954-56).

Tom Lehman

• Tom Lehman, making his 17th start at the British Open, eagled the final hole on Sunday for a 2-under 70 and a four-day total of 4-under 284. His T14 finish is his best finish in a major since a T13 at the 2005 Masters. The 1996 Open Champion has never failed to finish in red numbers at an Open at St. Andrews, finishing 10-under in 2000 (T4) and 4-under in 2005 (T23) and 2010 (T14).

• Lehman was seeking to become the oldest major winner. Here's a look at the 10 oldest:

Jin Jeong

• Jin Jeong (T14) finished 4-under 284 in his attempt to become the fourth amateur to win the British Open: Bobby Jones (1926, 1927/St. Andrews, 1930), Harold Hilton (1892, 1897) and John Ball Jr. (1890).

• Only six amateurs have finished with a better four-day total than Jeong at the British Open:

Miscellaneous Player Notes

• John Daly finished T48 in his 60th start in a major championship.

• 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen finished sixth for his eighth top-10 in 16 starts at the Open.

• Vijay Singh finished T37 in his 65th consecutive major.

Active consecutive major appearances:

• Five players have two top-10 finishes in the first three major championships in 2010:

• Of the top 13 finishers this week, only Oosthuizen and Goosen (2001 and 2004 U.S. Open) own major championship victories.

• The third-round leader/co-leader has now gone on to win 14 of 29 stroke-play events this season.

• Dating to the 1958 British Open, the 54-hole leader/co-leader has now prevailed 29 times in 53 attempts.

• Here's a look at scores for third-round leaders at British Opens hosted at St. Andrews since 1970:

Bogey-free rounds

R1: Rory McIlroy, Steven Tiley, Bradley Dredge, Nick Watney, Y.E. Yang, Camilo Villegas, Henrik Stenson, Steve Marino, Robert Allenby, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer

R2: Mark Calcavecchia; Tom Lehman, Toru Taniguchi, Lee Westwood

R3: Paul Casey

R4: 67 -- Rickie Fowler; 70 -- Retief Goosen; 71 -- Henrik Stenson

• The par-4 17th hole played the toughest this week with a 4.67 average, yielding just 16 birdies. The par-4 18th hole was the easiest at 3.63.

• The list of courses which have hosted the British Open more than once includes St. Andrews (28 times, including 2010), Prestwick (24), Muirfield (15), Sandwich (13), Hoylake (11), Royal Lytham (10), Royal Birkdale (9), Royal Troon (8), Musselburgh (6), Carnoustie (7), Turnberry (4) and Deal (2).