A late double bogey ruined an otherwise perfect afternoon for South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen at Erin Hills on Saturday, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
After opening rounds of 74 and 70, Oosthuizen moved into contention as he took advantage of the calm conditions and soft greens.
The 34-year-old found every fairway on the front nine, which allowed him to fire in some accurate iron shots that led to a number of makeable birdie putts. He duly converted opportunities at 1, 4, 7 and 8 to make the turn in four-under.
Oosthuizen got to -5 for the tournament, and the round, when he made another birdie, this time on the 467-yard par four 11th.
His first mistake of the day came on the 12th when he failed to stick a wedge close. The South African came up though, just a foot short from his lengthy uphill, then downhill putt from 40 feet.
With his confidence sky-high, he ran his birdie putt on 13 some distance past the hole as he looked to move within one of the leaders – who are only off at 21:29 SA time tonight. Oosthuizen made it 14 greens hit in succession, but his pitch failed to catch the slope at the back of the green, meaning another lengthy birdie try would narrowly miss finding the bottom of the cup.
There would be no repeat of that mistake on the short par four 15th as he moved to -6 with another regulation birdie, and sank a six-footer for par on 16 after finding the bunker off the tee.
And then came his disaster after he found the fescue rough off the tee. He hacked it out well short and left himself 25 feet for par. His putt slid a few feet by and then missed his first putt all round to compound his mistake and move on to the final hole with a double bogey.
The consummate professional, Oosthuizen found the fairway on the 667-yard par 5 before hitting his second into the perfect position just short of the green. Again, he made one more stroke than was expected as he finished with a par and walked off the green, no doubt wondering what might’ve been had he signed for a 65 and not the 68 that he was forced to hand in.
Oosthuizen’s Saturday performance, when he hit 15 of 17 greens in regulation, was reminiscent of his comeback at Chambers Bay two years ago when he opened with a 77 before rounds of 66, 66, and 67 saw him finish runner-up to Jordan Spieth. However, the leaders are expected to stretch their advantage, with benign conditions meeting them today.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
