Amateur career
Oosterhuis won the 1966 Berkshire Trophy by a stroke from Michael Bonallack, after a final round 67 which included nine 3s in 11 holes, with seven 3s in succession.[1] Later in 1966 he won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship by four strokes.[2]
In 1968 Oosterhuis was a runner-up in the Golf Illustrated Gold Vase behind Michael Bonallack and tied with Ted Dexter.[3]
Oosterhuis was a regular competitor for English and British teams at the boys (under-18) and youth (under-21) levels. He made his senior debut for England in the 1966 Home Internationals.[4] Oosterhuis represented Great Britain in the 1967 Walker Cup. Playing with Ronnie Shade in the foursomes they halved one match and won the other. However, Oosterhuis lost both his singles matches.[5] He also played in the 1968 Eisenhower Trophy where Great Britain and Ireland won the silver medal. Great Britain and Ireland led the United States by 7 strokes after three rounds, but the Americans scored 73, 73 and 75 in the final round to Great Britain and Ireland's 76, 76, and 77 to win by a stroke.[6] Oosterhuis turned professional in November 1968.[7]
Professional career
Oosterhuis turned professional in November 1968.[7] He played in South Africa in early 1969, finishing runner-up to Bobby Cole in the Natal Open. He seemed a likely winner but dropped a shot at the 17th and then took 7 at the final hole.[8] Later in the year he started the British season by winning the Sunningdale Foursomes, playing with the amateur Peter Benka. He finished runner-up in the Gor-Ray Under-24 Championship and, playing with Nigel Paul, won the Whitbread professional-amateur foursomes.[9] He was awarded the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
In 1970 Oosterhuis won two age-restricted events, Lord Derby’s Under-23 Professional Tournament and the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship.[10][11] Later in the season he finished tied for sixth in the Open Championship, and third in the Dunlop Masters.[12] Oosterhuis had won the General Motors Open in South Africa in February, an event which served as the South African qualifier for the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship.[13] In the Alcan event he finished tied for third place in that event with Neil Coles and Lee Trevino, winning £2,487.[14]
In April 1971, Oosterhuis made his debut on the PGA Tour at the 1971 Greater Greensboro Open, the week before competing in his first Masters.[15] The following month Oosterhuis won his first important British event, the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament, and followed this up by winning the Sunbeam Electric Tournament and the Piccadilly Medal later in the season.[16][17] He played Eric Brown in the final of the Piccadilly Medal, Brown conceding the match at the 34th hole because of a wrist injury, with Oosterhuis 6 strokes ahead after 33 holes.[18] These, together a number of other high finishes, including being runner-up in the Carroll's International and the Dunlop Masters, gave Oosterhuis the Order of Merit title with 1292.5 points, beating Neil Coles who finished just 7 points behind.[19] In September he represented Great Britain and Ireland for the first time in the Ryder Cup in St. Louis, having finished second in the points list.[20] In his singles matches he defeated Gene Littler and Arnold Palmer.[21] In November he made his only appearance in the World Cup. Playing with Tony Jacklin, the pair finished tied for 6th place.[22]
The European Tour started in 1972. Oosterhuis won the Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament, after beating Christy O'Connor Jnr in a sudden-death playoff, and the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship, a non-tour event.[23][24] He was runner-up in the Dutch Open, the Viyella PGA Championship and the John Player Classic.[25] He won the Order of Merit title with 1,751 points, ahead of Guy Hunt on 1,710, although his performances in the big money events put him well ahead as the leading money winner with £18,525.[26]
In February 1973 Oosterhuis played on the Caribbean Tour, winning the Ford Maracaibo Open and finishing runner-up in the Caracas Open and the Panama Open, before playing a number of events on the PGA Tour.[27][28][29][30] In April, Oosterhuis led the Masters by three strokes after three rounds, before finishing tied for third place, two strokes behind Tommy Aaron, after a final round 74.[31][32] Later in the year, Oosterhuis won three European Tour events: the Piccadilly Medal, French Open and Viyella PGA Championship.[25] He was also runner-up in the Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open and Dutch Open.[25] He won the Order of Merit again, with 3,440 points, 460 points ahead of Maurice Bembridge.[33] He won £17,455 in official tour events, second behind Tony Jacklin.[34] In September he played in the Ryder Cup, having led the points list.[35] As in 1971, he again played well in his singles matches, halving with Lee Trevino and beating Arnold Palmer.[21] Oosterhuis was selected to the two-man English team for the 1973 World Cup, to be played in November in Spain. Shortly before the tournament Oosterhuis withdrew because his wife was ill.[36]
In March and April 1974, Oosterhuis played three events on the PGA Tour, including the Masters.[30] The week after the Masters he was runner-up in the Monsanto Open, where he lost at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff to Lee Elder. It was Elder's first win on the PGA Tour.[37] Oosterhuis won three more European Tour events in 1974: the French Open and the last two tournaments of the season, the Italian Open and El Paraiso Open.[25] In addition he was runner-up in five other events, including the Open Championship, and was third in three more, finishing outside the top three only twice during the European Tour season.[25] He won the Order of Merit for the fourth time, nearly 600 points ahead of second-place Dale Hayes.[38] In November, Oosterhuis played in the 1974 PGA Tour Qualifying School in Palm Springs, California. Oosterhuis easily qualified, finishing in fourth place, three strokes behind the winner Fuzzy Zoeller.[39][40]
PGA Tour
Oosterhuis made his debut on his PGA Tour rookie season at the opening event, the 1975 Phoenix Open.[41] In the middle of the year, he recorded a second-place finish at First NBC New Orleans Open to Billy Casper. He was also in contention for the U.S. Open on the last day. He was in a tie for 4th place as he entered the final round. The leaders struggled early and Oosterhuis' even-par golf through the first 8 holes was nearly enough to catch them. However, he made four consecutive bogeys in the middle of the round to eliminate his chances. He would still finish only two back, in a tie for seventh. Oosterhuis also recorded one other top-10 in 1975. His overall record for the year was 28 starts with 24 made cuts along with 3 top-10s and 10 top-25s.[42][43] Late in the year, Oosterhuis played the 1975 Ryder Cup. He again had much success at the event, defeating Johnny Miller and J. C. Snead.
Oosterhuis did not progress on this performance, however. Through the late 1970s he would easily keep his Tour card, but was not a regular contender to win events on the PGA Tour. His year-end statistics through the late 1970s are remarkably similar to his 1975 results. In 1976, he made the cut in 25 of 29 events with 3 top-10s and 11 top-25s. In 1977, he made 18 of 25 cuts with 3 top-10s and 9 top-25s, including a runner-up finish at the Canadian Open, his third and final runner-up finish on tour. In 1978, he recorded 20 made cuts in 24 events with, for the fourth straight year, 3 top-10s as well as 6 top-25s.[43]
Oosterhuis' career in America reached its nadir in the summer of 1981. He hadn't recorded a top-10 in over a year.[43] He barely kept his card the previous year, finishing #107 on the money list.[44] He had gotten some advice, however, from former pro and instructor Bert Yancey which, in this words, "helped immensely."[45] This work eventually paid off as he won the Canadian Open in August 1981. It would be his only PGA Tour win. He defeated Andy North, Bruce Lietzke, and Jack Nicklaus by a shot. Nicklaus had a 20-foot eagle putt on the last hole to tie but missed.[45] He would build on this success, recording 4 top-10s and 13 top-25s in 1982, both his best ever for the PGA Tour.[43] He would also finish runner-up at the 1982 Open Championship.
The remainder of Oosterhuis' career was not quite as successful. He would record a handful of top-10s before quitting life as a touring professional after the 1986 season.[43] From 1987 to 1993, he was Director of Golf at Forsgate Country Club in Jamesburg, New Jersey, and at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
In 1993, Oosterhuis made a come back, entering 13 tournaments on the European Tour, but did not made the cut in any of them.[46]
Broadcasting career
In 1994, Oosterhuis was hired to cover the PGA Tour by Britain's Sky Sports and covered the Open Championship for the BBC in 1996 and 1997. From 1995 to 1997, he was the lead analyst for the Golf Channel's coverage of the European Tour.
In 1997, Oosterhuis joined the CBS Sports announcer team part-time, working five events including the Masters and the PGA Championship. In 1998, he joined the CBS golf team full-time. Oosterhuis has also worked on early-round coverage when CBS was covering the weekend, fulfilling this role for ESPN (2003–2006), Golf Channel (1998–2002, 2007–2014), and USA Network (1997–2007). In 2010, Oosterhuis began to work part-time for CBS, again calling about five events per year including the Masters and PGA Championship. Oosterhuis retired from broadcasting following the 2014 PGA Championship due to health concerns stemming from early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Oosterhuis called the action at Augusta National's par 4 17th hole for 18 straight years from 1997 through 2014.
England
