Louis Oosthuizen showed pure class and composure to win his first major championship at the home of golf, and after slowly lifting his cap to the crowd, enjoyed an ecstatic hug with his wife Nel-Mare and baby daughter Jana.

His final round one-under par 71 at St Andrews was more than enough to win by seven strokes as the rest of the field whittled under the pressure of having to make up the deficit. Nearest rival, Paul Casey, began the day just four strokes behind Oosthuizen, and looked to prove a tough challenger after narrowing the lead to three shots on the eighth when Oosthuizen made an unfortunate bogey.

However, his challenge quickly fizzled out on the 12th hole when his errant drive into the thick gorse bushes forced him to drop out, and he could only manage a triple-bogey seven from there. This left the door open for Englishman Lee Westwood to leapfrog him into yet another second place finish in a major after his second place in the US Masters earlier this year.

But for Oosthuizen, it looked like a stroll in the park as he opened his final round with seven straight pars. His bogey at the eighth did open him up for some scrutiny from the British commentators, however he didn’t seem to looked phased at all and silenced them very quickly by rolling in a lengthy putt for eagle on the very next hole, the par four ninth.

This extended his lead once more to four strokes over Casey who also drove the green but only managed a birdie. Pars followed at the 10th and 11th holes. Then Oosthuizen made another stunning birdie putt on the 12th hole after watching Casey self-destruct. The lead at that point then jumped to eight strokes.

”After the twelfth, the back nine became actually difficult having such a big lead to keep calm and keep focused.” said a relaxed Oosthuizen.

He certainly didn’t seem to show any difficulty though, as he kept launching every tee shot straight down the middle. Another birdie opportunity came at the par-five 14th where his second ran just passed the hole into a tiny pot bunker behind the green. Oosthuizen blasted it out and rolled the birdie putt agonizingly passed the cup.

Then came the difficult 17th hole where Oosthuizen was “glad to have an eight shot lead” on the tee. This obviously did keep him calm enough as he left his second shot short of the green and could only manage a bogey from there.

But just minutes later, in true Oosthuizen style, he launched another rocketing drive onto the 18th green in front of the vast crowds and took three additional putts to become the fourth South African in history behind Bobby Locke, Gary Player, and Ernie Els to have his name engraved on the Claret Jug.

He also received a commemorative silver belt from the captain of Prestwick Golf Club for winning the Open Championship in its 150th anniversary. His emphatic victory was also the perfect present for Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday, a moment which Oosthuizen was quick to congratulate him for in his victory speech.