With the riches on offer at the TOUR Championship, every player in the 30-man field knows that every shot counts for their bottom lines. That will frustrate Louis Oosthuizen after Friday’s play, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Typically of Oosthuizen’s play in recent months, he hit eight of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation. Usually, the one-time Major champion overcomes any errant play off the tee or with his irons with his short-game play.
He was one under after three after needing to convert from just four foot thanks to a precision iron from 136 yards. To that point, the lone South African hadn’t missed a green or fairway in regulation.
His accuracy failed him for the first time in the fairway on the fifth, finding the greenside bunker, and surprisingly he didn’t get up and down to save par. A two-putt birdie on the par five that followed helped rectify that mistake. Oosthuizen missed the next two fairways but saved par on both occasions before closing with a 22-foot birdie putt on the par-three 9th.
Turning in two under, Oosthuizen was perfectly set up for a move up the board. However, he missed the fairway/green on the next three holes and played them in two over par.
He found the fairway on the 13th and dialled in another iron to six feet from 148 yards. Result? Birdie.
The wheels came off at the par-three 15th … he found the water and a double ensued. On the next, his wayward tee shot had him playing out in the fairway before he compounded the mistake with a three-putt for a second double on the bounce.
Oosthuizen managed to get two shots back with a 313-yard drive on 17 and an iron from 125 yards to inside 10 feet. The par five on the last saw the South African in the greenside bunker for two, but this time he displayed his usual level of sand play as he left himself two feet for birdie and a round of 71.
He shares 25th place with Charles Howell III.
FedExCup payouts:
Winner’s share: $15 million
2: $5 million
3: $4 million
4: $3 million
5: $2.5 million
6: $1.9 million
7: $1.3 million
8: $1.1 million
9: $950,000
10: $830,000
11: $750,000
12: $705,000
13: $660,000
14: $620,000
15: $595,000
16: $570,000
17: $550,000
18: $535,000
19: $520,000
20: $505,000
21: $490,000
22: $478,000
23: $466,000
24: $456,000
25: $445,000
26: $435,000
27: $425,000
28: $415,000
29: $405,000
30: $395,000
