Oosthuizen victory doesn't change everything

Other than Louis Oosthuizen's rise from 54th to 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, golf's landscape hasn't change much in the wake of his impressive seven-shot victory in the 139th British Open.

Early indications pointing toward a big European victory when the Ryder Cup matches are held in October at Celtic Manor in Wales were fortified by how well the Europeans performed at St. Andrews. With the exception of Padraig Harrington, who missed the cut, it seemed as if every European Ryder regular was in contention, in addition to a few promising newcomers.

Lee Westwood took second, seven strokes back. Rory McIlroy, 21, who has never played in a Ryder Cup, shot 68 Sunday to finish tied for third at 8 under along with Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson. Martin Kaymer, who will likely make the Euro team as a rookie, bogeyed his last three holes to tie for seventh place at 6 under.

Meanwhile, the best American performances were turned in by Sean O'Hair and Nick Watney at 6 under, followed by Jeff Overton at 5 under. Rickie Fowler, J.B. Holmes, Dustin Johnson and 51-year-old Tom Lehman finished at 4 under. At this point in time, it doesn't look like the Americans, led by captain Corey Pavin, stand much of a chance of keeping the Ryder Cup they earned at Valhalla in 2008. They appear to be outclassed and outnumbered.

Another constant on the landscape after Oosthuizen's victory is the ongoing search for Tiger Woods. Despite maintaining his hold on golf's No. 1 ranking, Woods is still playing like a shadow of his former self. On his way to tieing for 23rd, Woods looked very average.

His decision to stray from his putter of 11 years didn't work out and he blamed his putting for his inability to build any momentum. You would think a guy who reportedly is going to pay around $750 million as a consequence of cheating on his wife of five years would know it doesn't pay to cheat on a putter that has served him so well.

If Woods is going to avoid getting blanked in the majors for the second consecutive season (his last major win was the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines), he'll have to regain his magic touch in four weeks at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The last time Woods played the wild and windy links on the shore of Lake Michigan he tied for 24th when the PGA Championship was held there in 2004.

Woods maintains that he's not concerned about the state of his game, that it's just a matter of time before everything clicks. But Oldgolfdawg has his doubts. It almost seems as if the golf gods are going to punish Woods for his off-course indiscretions and it's beginning to look like 2010 will be a lost season for the game's once-most-dominant player.

Finally, another constant to resurface at St. Andrews is the fruitless attempts of Phil Mickelson to prove he can win a British Open. Despite determined efforts to prove otherwise, the floppy-wedge-shot artist doesn't appear the have the right kind of game to ever win a British Open, as his 43rd-place finish confirmed once again. He has one top-10 finish in the event in 17 tries.

Information from ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and Golf.com contributed to this post.