It took longer than expected but it was well worth the wait as Louis Oosthuizen won the Alfred Dunhill Championship by two strokes at Leopard Creek on Monday to finally claim a title he has sought for most of his career.
A storm on Sunday and the subsequent suspension of the final round forced the tournament into a Monday finish. But after twice finishing runner-up in this event, Oosthuizen was happy to wait as long as needed to claim a title he has desperately wanted.
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“It feels good. I’ve waited a long time for this one and it’s very special. This and the SA Open are the two events in South Africa that I always wanted to win. I’m very happy,” said Oosthuizen after a final round of 69 and a winning total of 18 under par.
Charl Schwartzel finished second on 16 under par with a closing 71, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout took third place on 14 under par with a final round of 68.
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Oosthuizen and Schwartzel were tied for the lead on 16 under par through seven holes of the final round when Sunday’s storm suspended play. They resumed on Monday morning and the two Major winners matched each other on the magnificent Leopard Creek layout before a run of three straight birdies from the 13th gave Oosthuizen the edge.
“I knew Charl was going to be around all day because he likes this golf course and he knows how to play it. I think it was those three putts (for birdie) that got me ahead. It’s tough to be very aggressive over the last few holes so I could sort of just hang on to making pars,” said Oosthuizen.
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He had a three-shot lead with two holes to play and admits that Leopard Creek’s tough finishing stretch took it out of him.
“I didn’t have a great lie on 17 and ended up making bogey there and then on 18 I made par the hard way. But that’s what this golf course does. It’s such a good finishing golf course that you need to just hold on.”
