There was a small window of opportunity on Friday morning at St Andrews when the wind was calmer than it was to become later in the day and the fortune of the draw placed Louis Oosthuizen on the tee at just after 6.30am.

He played some early holes downwind before it switched direction and he was able to come back all the way down the back nine with the wind at his back. He took advantage by shooting a 67 to add to his opening 65 - also played early enough in the afternoon to miss the worst of the opening day storms - and set himself up as the man the field was going to hunt all weekend.

Many thought he would fade. He had won an early season Spanish event on the European tour but The Open Championship and the attendant pressure is something else again.

One who thought he would stay around was Dale Lynch, the Australian teacher of Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley, who noted on Friday night that that ‘he has a great golf swing, a complete game and is a very under-rated player.'

Paul Casey was closest four shots behind after Saturday's third round and he moved within three on Sunday after the South African bogeyed the par-three eighth hole. Casey drove perfectly along the short par four ninth right into the middle of the green and a miscue by Oosthuizen could have bought them even closer. Instead he drove within 10 metres and, after Casey missed, he drilled the long putt right into the middle of the hole.

Short of some sort of crazy catastrophe the championship was over and so it proved.

Casey made a seven at the short par-four 12th and by the end it was Lee Westwood and not Casey who took the second prize.

Whilst Oosthuizen most definitely had the best of the early draw, he played brilliantly and when all the pressure was on he played arguably even better rounds than his opening pair. Not numerically perhaps but here was a chance to add his name to an extraordinary line of champions at The Old Course and whilst it may look easy there are long hours between rounds to contemplate what might be and they are not spent without worry or tension.

The Championship was also confirmation that the balance of power in the world game has clearly switched away from the Americans. Two - Sean O'Hair and Nick Watney - finished in the top 10 and there were only seven in the top couple of dozen. Oosthuizen is reflective of what has happened in the last decade or so. He is a product of an era when the video camera is an indispensable part of the teaching of the game and so many of the best players swing the club solidly and reliably as a result.

The advantage the ‘foreigners' have over the Americans is that they learn the game on a greater variety of courses and the play in a greater variety of conditions and that inevitably adds an extra dimension to their games. The winner himself learned the game on sand greens and that is sure to inspire imagination and creativity.

Australians have been a part of that revolution but this was a disappointing week. At no stage did one look like winning and the best finishers were the 27th tied Robert Allenby and Adam Scott at two under par. That is far from a bad score but it's not close to what was needed to really content even for the minor places.

I suppose we could claim the Australian-based Korean, Jin Jeong, who finished tied for 14th in what was a remarkable performance to add to his British Amateur Championship win a few weeks ago. He has been living and playing in Melbourne for three years now and he looks as good as any of the younger players out there.

One of ours not here was Aaron Baddeley but, talking to Dale Lynch on Friday night, he is more than happy with the progress they have made with the Baddeley swing. Aaron spent almost 10 years searching for a swing to better the one he won the Australian Open with in 1999. Hindsight has proved that to be a mistake. It was a brilliant swing and the teacher is confident he is almost back there.

Whilst not playing The Open is like missing the best party in town, Baddeley is perhaps the one most likely to do something special before the end of the year.

Oosthuizen showed this week what is possible and few who saw Baddeley win the Open doubted he would have achieved something as significant as the South African did this week.

In the end though the winner here took advantage of a good draw and his nerveless play on the weekend proved beyond any doubt that he was the player of the week - and The Champion Golfer of the Year.