By Martyn Herman
ST ANDREWS, Scotland, July 19 (Reuters) - Louis Oosthuizen wishes the British Open could be played at St Andrews every year and he is probably not alone after 36 players went sub-70 in Sunday's third round.
But the South African has even more reason to love the Old Course after a stunning seven-stroke triumph five years ago at the spiritual home of golf.
Now, the 32-year-old is eyeing another victory after a third-round 67 on Sunday left him in a three-way tie for the lead on 12-under-par 204 with Irish amateur Paul Dunne and Australian Jason Day.
Laser-straight and long off the tee, he topped the average driving distances and hit 14 out of 16 fairways on Sunday, Oosthuizen's game measures up perfectly on the Scottish links.
"It's so much fun to be playing for the Claret Jug. It's the biggest tournament that I can play in," he said.
"Playing it around St Andrews makes it obviously a lot more special. I think every time I come here, even if it's for the Dunhill, if I play around St Andrews, I really enjoy the track.
"I love playing it. I hope they have it here every year."
His only regrets were a couple of careless bogeys that cost him the outright lead going into Monday's finale in which the top 14 will start with only three shots separating them.
"You could see there was a lot of birdies out there, and especially midway through the round, there wasn't a breath of wind out there," he said.
"You were supposed to make a lot of birdies. I was a bit disappointed with bogeying eight and 12 from really nowhere, two stupid mistakes I made. Other than that, I came back nicely."
"I think it's going to be one of the tightest Opens," added Oosthuizen, who tied for second at the U.S. Open last month. "But knowing I've done it before at this golf course, I will take a lot from that.
"But there's a lot of golf that needs to be played. Jordan (Spieth) is obviously looking at making history, so you can expect him to fire on early and to really be up there.
"Jason (Day) is playing unbelievable. There's so many players that can still win this."