Louis Oosthuizen’s Favorite Golf Gambling Story: A South African Showdown

The Action Network spoke with several of today’s top professional golfers to find out their favorite personal golf betting stories.

Louis Oosthuizen

When: June, 2011
Where: Congressional CC

It’s not often that two childhood buddies each become major champions, but that’s the case for Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 Open Championship, and Charl Schwartzel, who won the 2011 Masters. About two months after Schwartzel’s win at Augusta National, the two friends were playing a practice round match in advance of the U.S. Open. Unlike most friendly matches, their recurring game features a cruel twist – one which came back to bite Oosthuizen on this occasion.

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“We’ve got this recall-mulligan game that we play. If your opponent hits a good shot, you can make him recall it and take a mulligan.

“On the long par-4 15th, it’s a dogleg down to the left and Charl hit one into the fairway bunker. He had 210 yards into the pin. The only way he could do something is if he hit this 40-yard cut 5-wood, because he couldn’t go straight over the left.

“So, he hit this shot to 25 feet, an unbelievable shot. I immediately go, ‘Recall!’ I hadn’t used my recall yet.

“He was swearing and shouting. He said, ‘You can’t do that!’ I said, ‘Hey, that’s the game.’

“Well, he hit the next one to 10 feet.

“He placed it exactly where he wanted to and it stopped 10 feet away. That screwed me completely. He ended up making birdie and he beat me that day.

“We’ve always had good matches between us.”

Other Golf Gambling Stories from the Game's Biggest Stars

• Corey Conners' Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Pressing at Pebble Beach
• Bryson DeChambeau's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: A Very Important Reese's
• Adam Scott's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Fred Couples, Phil Ivey and $10K
• Tony Finau's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: A $500 Hole-In-One
• Justin Thomas' Favorite Golf Gambling Story: 36 Holes With Michael Jordan
• Paul Casey's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: A Winning Pitch vs. Lefty
• Marc Leishman's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: The International Hustle
• Rickie Fowler's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: 1-on-1 with Michael Jordan
• Zach Johnson's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: When Doubling Down Goes All Wrong
• Brendan Steele's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Ratted Out for Winning Too Much

Golf Gambling Stories from Legends of the Game

• Mark O’Meara’s Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Tiger Takes Him for a Ride
• Nick Price's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: A Longshot to Remember
• Gary Player's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Arnold Palmer and a South African Goldmine
• Davis Love III's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: No-Bogey Betting at the Open Championship
• Nick Faldo's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Getting into Jack Nicklaus' Pockets
• Bernhard Langer's Favorite Golf Gambling Story: Shaking Down Seve Ballasteros