Louis Oosthuizen left himself with plenty to do after a poor finishing stretch at the end of his second round at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Oosthuizen finished two shots behind his tally of yesterday, after a one-over 73 on Friday that had the potential to be so much better were it not for his closing three holes.
The one-time Major winner will be left scratching his head, after bogeys at 16, 17 and 18 left him well off the pace set by France’s Victor Dubuisson.
A slow start – which included a bogey 5 at the par-4 fifth – in difficult scoring conditions was halted on the ninth when he made his first birdie of the day. Key to scoring well at the Gary Player Country Club is taking advantage of the turn, and that’s what he did as he capitalised with a second consecutive birdie.
A birdie at the par-5 14th moved Oosthuizen steadily into contention as the chasing pack swelled to as many as nine, including compatriots Darren Fichardt and Charl Schwartzel.
Those numbers dwindled quickly, and one of them dropping out of the race to join the Frenchman at the top was Oosthuizen as he copied yesterday’s poor run in, and then some, by concluding his round with three bogeys on the bounce.
At level-par at the halfway mark it is too soon to say Oosthuizen is out of it, but he will need to find some mojo ahead of the weekend quickly if he wishes to end the 10-year wait for a local winner.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
