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Oosthuizen: It's going to be horrible to not play at Open

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Louis Oosthuizen (Getty Images)
Louis Oosthuizen (Getty Images)

Former Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen admitted that it will be horrible to not playing at this year's major at Royal St George's in Kent.

The 149th edition of the tournament was scheduled to take place in July but was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The event is the only cancelled major this year with the US Open, PGA Championship and Masters rescheduled. 

Oosthuizen, who lifted the Claret Jug in 2010, expressed his disappointment but stated that it was the right decision.

"Yeah it's horrible not being able to play the Open. It's a tournament I love but at the end of the day they made the right call," Oosthuizen told BBC World Service's Sportsworld

The PGA Tour confirmed plans to resume in June with the first four tournaments being closed to spectators.

Oosthuizen revealed that it's going to feel awkward playing without a crowd.

"It's already going to be a crazy schedule if we start up in June. Without fans it will be very different," said the 37-year-old

"It will be like playing a competition at your club. It's going to feel awkward but if we decide to go ahead mid June, it will be the right thing to do to have no fans."

The PGA Tour's first event will be the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, which is expected to start from 8-14 June.

Oosthuizen, who is SA's top ranked golfer, is also looking forward to hopefully represent his country at next year's 2021 Presidents Cup and Olympics.

"If the Ryder cup moves another year I would think the Presidents Cup would also move and you have got the Olympics also next year," he said.

"They are going to look at those big events and the majors and then probably do the rest [of the schedule] around them but it will definitely be difficult to do both in one year."

The Olympics is expected to start on 23 July 2021, while 2021 Presidents Cup will be staged from 30 September to 3 October.

- Compiled by Lynn Butler

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