Lanky SA amateur Lamprecht takes Open by storm: 'I believe in myself'

Lamprecht grew up idolising the 2010 Open champion, and is a product of Oosthuizen's golf academy back home in South Africa, before moving on to continue his education on and off the course at Georgia Tech in the United States.

But a promising junior career was nearly knocked off course by a growth spurt, which is evident in Lamprecht's 6 feet 8 inch (2.03 metres) frame.

"I started out very competitively, and golf-wise I was a little bit better than everyone at 14, 15 years old and then I kind of hit the growth spurt and everything golf-wise was everywhere. I didn't know what was going on. I was changing clubs every six months," said Lamprecht.

"I guess once I kind of finally got to a certain length where I didn't grow that much more and got a little bit more mature, I figured out where to go."

The 22-year-old used his long limbs to his advantage with booming distances off the tee on Thursday.

"He's got - and I'm sure it's no surprise - pretty huge power because he's a giant man," said 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink, who is involved in the golf programme at Georgia Tech.

"As a 50-year-old golfer seeing a guy like him, he is pretty much like your basic nightmare, watching a guy like him coming up."

But it is Oosthuizen who has played the biggest role in moulding another potential future major champion from South Africa.

'Ginormous mentor'

"I think having someone that I know very well and is a ginormous mentor for me that I've played previously with kind of helped me feel a little bit more at home and at ease," added Lamprecht.

"Louis was by far the favourite (player growing up). I've kind of grown up, known him personally, and watching him play, it's pretty amazing.

"I don't think I've ever beaten him. I've played with him