Tearful Oosthuizen pulls away to emotional victory
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN fought back tears after he recovered from a shaky start to clinch an emotional victory in the South African Open – his first at his home tournament.
The 2010 Open champion made two early bogeys and saw his three-shot overnight lead cut to one stroke after just three holes of the final round at Randpark Golf Club.
But he played the remaining holes in six under to card a closing 67 and win by six strokes from Frenchman Romain Langasque on 18 under par.
“I wish the family was here,” Oosthuizen said as he choked back tears on the 18th green. “The crowd was great, it was nice to do it for them.
“I knew today was either going to be very special or heartbreaking. There’s only a few that have won the Open and the SA Open so I’m very chuffed to have my name on this.”
Langasque’s closing 66 earned him one of three spots in The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, along with 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and England’s Oliver Wilson.
Schwartzel (72) and Wilson (67) tied for third alongside South Africans Thomas Aiken and Bryce Easton on 10 under, clinching their spots in the Open thanks to their superior world ranking.
“It was good to play in St Andrews for my first Open because its quite wide and I could play left if I couldn’t quite feel the shot,” Langasque said.
“Portrush is not quite the same, the course is more narrow, but I think I’m ready to play these kinds of events as a pro.”
Disappointed
Schwartzel, who was also seeking his first win in his national open, was disappointed to come up short but pleased to book his spot in the Open.
“It’s a nice bonus,” he said. “I was hoping to do better in this tournament, but I’m still happy that I get to play the Open in Northern Ireland which will be really nice.
“It’s special. There’s so much history behind it, and it would be nice to have my name on the trophy one day.”
On the Staysure Tour, Paul McGinley tied for fourth as Clark Dennis equalled the senior tour’s 54-hole scoring record en route to an eightstroke win over Swede Magnus P Atlevi in the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius.
The American went bogey-free all week, closing with an eight-underpar 64 to finish on 23 under par and match Thaworn Wiratchant’s winning total last year.
Roger Chapman shot 67 to claim third place outright on 13 under par and make the top 29 in the Order of Merit who secured spots alongside invitees Tom Lehman, David Frost and Marc Farry in this week’s season-ending MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles.
McGinley, who is skipping the Seychelles, shot 69 to tied for fourth with Welshman Phillip Price on 12 under, claiming €22,897 to finish 25th in the money list with €81,903 from just six starts.
Headfort’s Brendan McGovern (€1,963) finished 49th in the 50-man field on nine-over after a closing 76 and is fifth reserve for the final event.
The Dubliner (53) ended up 38th on the money list with €56,384 from 17 events, nearly €60,000 outside the top 20 who are fully exempt next season.