South African Louis Oosthuizen won the British Open by seven shots at St. Andrews, one of the most revered golf courses in the world. But because absolutely no one cares about Oosthuizen — and most people still have no idea who he is — everyone is talking about Tiger Woods instead.

Which means the ridiculousness is coming back out in golf.

The new favorite theory of the British night is that Woods finishing 13 shots back and never really coming within sniffing distance of the lead all tournament shows that the world's greatest golfer is a finished, hollow shadow of his former self. Jack Nicklaus' majors record is safe!, blaring headlines from around the globe will soon declare.

Sorry, not only will Woods still crush Nicklaus' mark of 18 major wins, he won this British Open too. No, he's not bringing home the Claret Jug or adding major victory number 15 to his legacy, but he did have the moment of the tournament. And no, we're not talking about another TV-mic-picked-up F-bomb that comically turned into another international incident.

When Tiger waved Tom Watson, who was playing in the group behind him, through on Friday evening so that Watson, playing in his last British Open at The Old Course, could finish his tournament that night and get the adoration he deserved rather than having to come back and play one hole in front of a non-existent crowd early Saturday morning, No. 1 stopped only looking out for No. 1. This was a huge step for Tiger, a big moment for golf.

It would have been much more covered too if anyone had really paid attention to this British Open (whether it was a World Cup hangover or simply the nature of the runaway and the no name pulling it off, this was the most underreported major in the last decade, easily).

Tiger would have been much better off himself, tournament wise, if he had taken advantage of the better light to finish before Watson on Friday. Instead, he showed an immense respect for golf history (something he's displayed throughout his career) and put aside the fact that Watson has been one of the most vocal old-guard critics of his sexting scandal.

If you think Rory Sabbatini or Aaron Baddeley or a host of other PGA Tour players would have let Watson play through, you're fooling yourself. Tiger's gesture was significant and it went much beyond himself.

That's the sign of superstar starting to stick his golf spikes back into reality. One who still has plenty of time to destroy Jack's treasured record once he's all the way there. The 34-year-old Woods has won 14 majors. Nicklaus won his 14th major at age 35. And then, he took 11 years to win his last four.

Do you really think that Tiger cannot eke out at least five more majors? Please. Nicklaus won one at 46 for fools' sake. And Nicklaus would be the first to admit that Woods is in 100 times the shape Jack was during his playing career.

Tiger Woods finishes with 21 major championships. Minimum. And this otherwise forgettable British Open will be remembered by Tiger as a start of that — thanks in no small part to his unselfish Watson moment.