Louis Oosthuizen (-18) now has his Alfred Dunhill Championship, one of the few tournaments of the DP World Tour that are played on South African soil, his homeland, which he did not have in his record. Let’s say that the fifteenth attempt has been the good one, since Oosthuizen was already playing this tournament at the age of twenty, as a neoprofessional, even before the Leopard Creek Country Club (Malelane, South Africa) became its fixed venue, which began to happen back in 2004. He was second in 2005 and 2014 and came from being seventh last year, so it was not the first time he was around it.
But on this occasion, at last, he has been able to strike the blow on the table just when it is most decisive to do so, with three consecutive birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15 and a final card of 69 strokes. Such a sprint gave him a comfortable lead, although it was not going to be easy for Louis. A silly bogey on 17 and a ball in the water from the tee on 18, the last par 5 of the course, still put him in a delicate situation. Let’s be clear: at this crossroads, just when Oosthuizen opened the door, his main rival, Charl Schwartzel (-16), was not going to be brilliant, not even accurate. In some way, it reflected in both what their career has been: they are both extraordinary players, but they find it harder than usual to close tournaments, and they have won more than most, including a Major for each one.
Finally, Oosthuizen saved a great par on that 18, sinking a long putt, and definitively closed the doors to his compatriot and friend, who could well have tightened the rope more, hitting from two to green from the center of the fairway. However, he was about to go into the water with that second shot and thus lost the opportunity to add a fifth victory on this course and in this tournament. He is the King of Leopard Creek, no doubt, because in addition to the four victories he already has five second places, including this week’s, but today was not his turn.
Along with them, in the stellar match of this accident-prone day split in two and finished on Monday due to water and electrical storms, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-14) settled for a notable third place alone, after having come close seriously, since at the turn of hole 9 he was two strokes from the lead, being the one who was best dealing with the downpour with which the game resumed this morning and which fortunately was subsiding. Nothing that is not known: South African golf is unbeatable on its land.
