A week after the successful hosting ofair force shoes online the World Cup, Louis Oosthuizen gave South Africans more to celebrate - and on Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday, no less. NEVER FALTERED: Louis Oosthuizen, who won the British Open golf championship on Sunday, kisses the Claret Jug as he sits on the Swilcan Bridge at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland A huge crowd at the Old Course, some ofNike Dunk Shoes online them even wearing Bafana jerseys and waving the South African flag, welcomed Oosthuizen as he and caddie Zack Rasego crossed over the Swilcan Bridge to tap in the last putt and lift the Claret Jug. "It's fantastic," said Gary Player. "Wonderful things are happening to South Africa. I went back for the final match of the World Cup, and they did a way better job than people imagined." Of course, football's biggest event won't Vibram Five Fingers onlinesolve South Africa's everyday problems. Nor will one man winning a golf tournament. But there's no denying the pride felt by the many South Africans in the crowd who cheered Oosthuizen on on Sunday. "It is a great event forMBT Shoes online all South Africans, especially because it is the birthday of Nelson Mandela," said Rasego, who usually converses with Oosthuizen in Afrikaans. "It's a great day for us." It was a great week for Oosthuizen, who started as such an unknown that the Royal & Ancient felt compelled to put out a fact sheet with 11 things one needed to know about the 27-year-old from Mossel Bay. Commentators also had to be taught how to pronounce his name (WUHST'-hy-zen, they were told). None of those tidbits was as compelling as his golf game, which was rock-solid for air jordan shoes on saleall four rounds and never gave anyone a chance to make it close. He led over the final 48 holes of the championship, closing with a one-under 71 that left him at 16-under 272 overall. No one else was within seven strokes. "It felt a bit special out there," he said. Oosthuizen, who had made the cut onlyAir Max shoes on sale once in eight previous majors, claimed the lead for good way back in the second round. Some figured he was the beneficiary of a fortuitous tee time - in the morning, before the wind started gusting more than 64kmh - and would surely falter in the spotlight of the weekend. Indeed, Oosthuizen bogeyed his first hole ofNike Shox Shoes on sale the third round, and everyone waited for the collapse that never came. He turned in 13 pars and four birdies on Saturday, giving him a commanding four-stroke lead going into the final round. He started Sunday with seven more pars before his bogey-free streak finally ended with a six-foot miss at No8. Again, everyone wondered if he might finally realise this was a position he'd never been in before. Again, he quickly snuffed out the hopes of England's Paul Casey, the only guy who really had a chance to catch him in the final round. Oosthuizen drove the green at the par-4 ninth, a tempting 352 yards away, and rolled in a 50-foot putt for eagle. "I needed one putt to really get my rhythm going," he said. "And that eagle on 9, that got me started." Three holes later, Casey was done. He drove into a gorse bush left ofair shox shoes on sale the fairway and had to take a penalty. Then he made a mess of things: a wedge over the bush came up short of the short grass, then he scooted the next shot through the green. He finally putted up, about four feet from the cup, but missed that one and took a crushing triple bogey. Not that it really mattered; not theNike Basketball Shoes on sale way Oosthuizen was playing. Oosthuizen had only six bogeys all week, and the last of those was a short miss at the next-to-last hole when he was essentially on an extended walk up 18, revelling in the cheers of the crowd at every stop. About all that did was cost him a chance to break the British Open record for largest margin of victory in the modern era, an eight-stroke win last accomplished a decade ago by Tiger Woods at this very course. He missed a 10-footer for birdie at the easy closing hole, costing him a chance to share the mark. - Sapa-AP FACT FILE:Louis Oosthuizen winner ofNike Air Force Shoes on sale the 139th British Open Louis Oosthuizen was a 300-1 outsider when he teed off in the British Open last Thursday. His winning margin of seven shots is the second-biggest in the Open since the First World War (the biggest is Tiger Woods's eight-stroke win in 2000). He finished on 272, 16 under par. He is the fourth South African to lift the Claret Jug. The others are Gary Player, Bobby Locke and Ernie Els. He is in exalted company of those who have won the British Open at the ancestral home of golf, St Andrews. Among them are legends of the game: JH Taylor, Bobby Jones, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Woods. nike Paul Pierce Shoes nike Tim Duncan Shoes nike Tracy McGrady shoes nike Jason Frederick Kidd Shoes nike Tony Parker Shoes