South African duo Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel produced a back nine flurry but ultimately came up short at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel started day four behind and looked to be going nowhere slowly after nine consecutive pars to start.
With a number of strong teams moving to the top, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel clicked into gear and then some at the turn with four birdies in a row to vault them into contention.
‘We were level and we felt like we played okay, you know, not really bad, just made a few putts. Nice one on 10 and 12, and, you know, hit it close on 13,’ said Oosthuizen.
‘But, you know, I think on Friday (72), to have this finish, I think we would both be really happy.’
Schwartzel’s putt on the last looked like it would help the Saffas set the clubhouse lead on -21 but it lipped out as the pair settled for a 68 on Sunday and third alone.
The foursomes (alternate shot) proved to be difficult for the field this week with Schwartzel pointing to a lack of rhythm.
‘You know, you just never really get into a rhythm. You know, Louis came to me on No 12, he said to me he’s only hit 2-iron shots for the whole day. I said to him, “Well, I’ve only hit two putts”,’ said Schwartzel.
‘So all of sudden it’s your turn to start hitting iron shots and putts, you don’t have a feel for the rhythm, the round, which makes it difficult.’
While the South African friends and Presidents Cup teammates did enough to finish ahead of Chris Paisley and Tommy Fleetwood, it was heartbreak for Pat Perez and Jason Dufner, who ended a shot off the final tally of Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy.
The winners have two birdies to Perez’s one on the back nine on Sunday.
What is certain is Oosthuizen’s participation next year.
‘I always say Presidents Cup week is my favourite week of the year. We never have enough team events. I’ll definitely come back to this,’ said Oosthuizen, who partnered Branden Grace last year. Grace was unavailable as he raced home for the birth of his son, Roger.
Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
