For the fifth time in his career, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen finished as runner-up at a Major when Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship this past Sunday. Here’s a look at how all the South Africans fared in Kiawah Island.
Oosthuizen, who usually leads the local charge into the four annual Major events, was once again in contention as the golfing world focused on the drama from South Carolina.
Mickelson stood tall for his sixth Major and second PGA Championship victory, edging Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepka by two shots at the end.
Despite winning the 2010 British Open, in what is still his only Major victory, Oosthuizen has since fallen agonisingly short on multiple occasions.
He lost in respective playoffs to Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson at the 2012 Masters and 2015 British Open. He also finished second at the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay and just about missed out at victory at the 2017 PGA Championship.
This past weekend was therefore the second time in five years he had to settle for second place at the event.
Having started the final round firmly in contention, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Branden Grace struggled on the final hurdle, finishing on two over par and three over par, respectively.
Daniel van Tonder signed off with a final-round 73 to end his first Major performance on four over par, while Garrick Higgo fought back well on Sunday to end his week on eight over par.
Dean Burmester finished a shot better, though, by going one over on Sunday.
FULL SOUTH AFRICAN LEADERBOARD:
T2: Louis Oosthuizen (-4)
T30: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+2)
T38: Branden Grace (+3)
T44: Daniel van Tonder (+4)
T59: Dean Burmester (+7)
T64: Garrick Higgo (+8)
MC: Dylan Frittelli (+8)
MC: Erik van Rooyen (+9)
MC: George Coetzee (+10)
MC: Charl Schwartzel (+11)
MC: Brandon Stone (+17)
