King Louis finally right next to Ernie, Bobby and Gary
THE last time Louis Oosthuizen tasted victory before yesterday’s triumph at the SA Open at Randpark was 33 months ago, at the Perth International.
Since then he has threatened, come close, but not been able to close out the deal. He did it in some style yesterday, when it mattered most.
Oosthuizen – the leading player in the field during the week, ranked No 36 in the world – took a three-shot lead into the final round, but in the end won by a whopping six strokes. Not even a bogey, bogey start and a further dropped shot at the 17th could stop him.
Four birdies in six holes before the turn, and a brilliant eagle-three at the par-5 14th hole made up for the blemishes. Oosthuizen dominated the week’s proceedings, opening up with a brilliant 9-under-par 62 on Randpark’s Bushwillow course on Thursday and he followed that up with a crucial, in his words “deciding round for the week”, 1-under-par 70 on the tougher Firethorn layout in windy conditions on Friday to temporarily give up the lead.
But scores of 67 on Saturday and yesterday put him in the clear and with a total of 18-under-par he was the master of Randpark.
“There’s a lot of relief, for sure,” said an emotional Oosthuizen afterwards who because of scheduling issues hadn’t played the SA Open tournament since 2011. “It felt great when that last putt dropped ... to get my name on the trophy. It’s something every South African golfer dreams of, winning their national open.
“The thing is when you’ve got a big lead like that (three shots, and then six), you can start to wander and allow it to get away from you. I thought it was important to not take my foot off the pedal, and I did that well.”
Oosthuizen said the disappointment of not closing out the deal at Sun City at the Nedbank Golf Challenge a few weeks ago had spurred him on this week.
“I got close to winning at Nedbank, and really played well there. I felt I had everything going in my game to win, but was outplayed in a brilliant last round by Lee Westwood. That hurt and I was drained at the end there,” he said.
Oosthuizen set the record straight at Randpark. Not only did he finally win the SA Open, he also became only the fourth South African to win their home open and the Open Championship. The others to have done it are Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els.
“That’s special, it really is,” said Oosthuizen, who added that his driving and putting had been key to his triumph yesterday.
“My putting was as good as it’s ever been,” Oosthuizen said. “And, I drove it well as well. And when you’re driving well and putting well you take a lot of pressure off yourself. You know you can hit your putts rather than lag them to the hole.”
France’s Romain Langasque finished second with a total of 12-underpar after a final round 66, while four players – South Africans Thomas Aiken, Charl Schwartzel and Bryce Easton, and England’s Oliver Wilson – finished at 10-under-par for the week.
A further shot back and in a tie for seventh were eight players, including the highly-impressive Madalitso Muthiya from Zambia, and local stars Brandon Stone, Branden Grace, Haydn Porteous, Anthony Michael and Jbe’ Kruger.