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We all expected the bigger names to challenge or for the final round leader to come back to the field, but in the end Louis Oosthuizen strolled to a seven-shot victory at the Open Championship to claim his first major title.
Any doubts that Oosthuizen had the game and the temperament to cope with the pressure of leading a major championship on the last day, having missed the cut in five previous attempts, were soon dispelled over the Old Course when he played with the confidence of a seasoned campaigner to win the game's oldest and most coveted title by seven shots.
After eight holes his lead was trimmed to three shots, but he responded almost instantly with an eagle at the ninth and Paul Casey's spirited challenge fell apart with a wayward tee shot at the 12th that led to a triple bogey seven; with that the destination of the 139th Open Championship was virtually assured and allowed Oosthuizen the luxury of playing the final six holes with an eight-shot cushion.
It was then just a question of who would finish second; it became a battle between old friends and adversaries Casey and Lee Westwood and in the end it was Westwood who took the honours at nine under when Casey three-putted the last after driving into the Valley of Sin. It was Westwood's second successive near miss following his third place result in last year's competition.
Westwood - whose time must surely come soon - has now finished in the top three in four of the last five major championships. It was mainly a cold putter to blame for falling short this week but arguably the most consistent player in the world right now will be back at Whistling Straights to try again at the US PGA.
One of the biggest cheers of the day rang out around the 18th green when 18-year-old amateur champion Jin Jeong from Korea completed his first Open Championship with an eagle putt after driving the green and finished at four under par.
He followed young Italian Matteo Manassero in completing the double of amateur title-holder and winner of the Silver Medal as leading non-pro in The Open.
Meanwhile, Oosthuizen was serenely making his way towards the Claret Jug. Ranked 54th in the world at the start of the week, he had won his first European Tour title at the Andalucia Open in March but nothing could have prepared him for this.
Following missed cuts at both the Masters and the US Open nobody could really have predicted the form that the champion found this week.
He becomes the second South African to win the Open at St Andrews after Bobby Locke in 1957. He also joins Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman on the impressive list of South African major winners.
It must have been written in the stars, a solid par up the last made him South Africa's fourth Open champion on Nelson Mandela Day.
