Louis Oosthuizen still has some waiting to do before he can be sure of earning a place in next year’s Masters field.
To do so, he needs to finish the year inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Oosthuizen has a bogey on the last hole of the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday to blame for this wait.
The 40-year-old South African signed up with LIV Golf this year and has since dropped in the OWGR rankings due to LIV events not providing them points.
At the beginning of June, Oosthuizen was ranked 21st but this week he slid down to 50th.
To secure his top 50 status on the final OWGR list of 2022, which traditionally has meant a spot in the field at the prestigious Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Oosthuizen signed up to play in the Alfred Dunhill Championship, co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour and offering OWGR points.
Oosthuizen started the final round in a tie for 10th. He stood on the 18th tee box five under for his round looking to finish off strong before finding the water with his approach to the island green. After missing a 15-footer for par, the bogey six slid him from a tie for fourth to T7.
According to early projections from the OWGR, Oosthuizen is expected to place 50th in the final standings which would be just enough to secure his place at Augusta.
Dean Burmester, a fellow South African, is expected to place 53rd but is one of the players who could replace Oosthuizen.
Burmester will compete in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, another co-sanctioned DP World Tour/Sunshine Tour event.
If he wins, he may overtake Oosthuizen and take his place in The Masters.
