Louis Oosthuizen shook off the disappointment of his poor third round to play his way into a top-five finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
A Friday 75 – the tournament started a day earlier to accommodate the Asian Games – saw the recent SA Open champion fall from contention.
Oosthuizen then showed his class as he finished with a 66 – the second-best round of the day – to finish fourth as he looks to build momentum ahead of switching back to the PGA TOUR ahead of April’s Masters Tournament.
‘Yeah, yesterday was very frustrating on greens. I lost a little bit of rhythm in my stroke, and this morning just did something to pick it up again and rolling the ball a little better today,’ he said after his final round.
The 35-year-old then revealed his struggles with the most important club in the bag.
‘Yeah, I was level through 8 and then sort of messed around a little bit on my stance in my putting stroke, and I didn’t get the club off the blade the way that I wanted to. Found a little something and started rolling the ball really nicely and made good putts for birdie on the back nine.’
Oosthuizen is confident that more wins are around the corner with his swing and game plan now showing real signs of reaching their optimum level.
‘The stuff I’m working on is working, and I need to just keep on working at it and not try and do that 75; after four rounds, don’t get that bad round in there. Just work on consistency and doing the work.
‘It’s great to start your season off with a win, and hopefully I can do a few more this year.’
Oosthuizen will join the likes of Ernie Els and invitee Jovan Rebula at the Dubai Desert Classic next week.
