Louis Oosthuizen closed with a birdie on his 72nd hole to secure a top-five finish, six behind Marc Leishman, at the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur.
The South African was one of a number of players in the chasing pile blown away by the Australian, who won the 2015 Nedbank Golf Challenge, who opened with a par before reeling off four birdies in succession. That early blitz coupled with fellow overnight leaders Gary Woodland and Shubhankar Sharma failing to shoot in the 60s on Sunday allowed Leishman a comfortable run into the title.
Oosthuizen, who started the round two back, was in contention through nine holes after overcoming a slow start – he opened with four pars – with birdies at the 5th, 6th and 8th.
The South African’s charge was derailed by a momentum-killing drop at the 12th which saw Leishman move into an unassailable lead.
A birdie on the last helped Oosthuizen come home in level par 36 and a final score of -20, six back of Leishman, who bagged his fourth win on the PGA Tour and his first of the 2018-19 season, and one behind the trio sharing second, Americans Chesson Hadley and Bronson Burgoon joining Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo at -21.
