Louis Oosthuizen was the unlikely winner when the Open was last held at St Andrews five years ago but the South African’s display in this year’s US Open has made him confident he can be in contention at the Home of Golf this week.
The 32-year-old finished only one stroke behind winner Jordan Spieth at Chambers Bay in Washington state – despite starting with a seven-over-par 77.
Back in 2010, Oosthuizen had made only one cut in eight major appearances before winning the Claret Jug at the Old Course.
Few predicted that triumph, but his recent performance in America has placed him among the likely pacesetters for this week’s 144th Open.
Oosthuizen said: “A few weeks ago at Chambers I needed to prove to myself I could get in the situation of trying to win a major again – and the back nine was so much fun. I was making putts from everywhere and I felt I handled the situation and didn’t feel nervous coming down the stretch.
“Everyone is trying to play to be on the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win a major. You only see how you are going to react to that situation when you are in it.
“It is always great coming back to St Andrews. It gives me confidence knowing what I’ve done here and that I can play this golf course.
“You need to play good golf around this track to shoot a good score. If you are not driving the ball well then you’re going to find a few pot bunkers, make mistakes and bogeys.
“The scoring will be determined by the weather but I feel very confident going into the week. I just need to hit the shots I want to off the tee to put myself in good positions. But there are a lot of great guys out there.”
Oosthuizen, meanwhile, has warned world number one Rory McIlroy against rushing back from injury.
The Northern Irishman is sitting out this week’s major after rupturing ankle ligaments playing football with friends.
Oosthuizen said: “Rehab is the most important thing after any injury. Rory will be fine. I’m sure he’ll take care of that injury pretty good.
“I probably came back too soon when I tore my ankle ligaments in 2010 and that put me back a few months more.
“It’s something you and your team need to take care to make sure that whenever you’re back, you’re fully fit. A lot of times you’re very anxious to come back a bit earlier and sometimes that can be costly.”