Louis Oosthuizen wins the Alfred Dunhill Championship

Following a weather-related postponement of the final round, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen emerged victorious at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Monday.

Louis Oosthuizen, who had made 12 prior appearances in this event, acknowledged that he “really, really wanted” it when he finished on Monday with a dramatic two-stroke triumph that included a par save at the last hole.

After missing a short putt at the 17th, the South African had three holes remaining. At the 18th, he found the water off the tee, forcing him to take a drop and lay up with his third.

Louis Oosthuizen produced another masterful shot on a day when he displayed exceptional wedge play. His ball landed a few feet from the hole, but it rolled back more than 20 feet, leaving him with a challenging but brilliant par chance to win the Opening Swing’s fifth event, as playing partner Schwartzel was unable to capitalize.

“I’ve always wanted to win one of these tournaments,” declared Louis Oosthuizen, who on Monday finished the first 11 holes of his final round.

It took me some time. It’s always a pleasure to return there. While I wouldn’t say that 18 was kind to me this time, I did manage to make it through, if not exactly on the last hole.

“I feel so much better now. Rupes texted me this morning stating that the person who plays 18 with the greatest thinking is going to win. I planned to shoot a seven wood when I went on the tee shot, but because of the rain, it felt really wet while we were there. I decided to simply whack my driver down the left, but I clearly made a horrible swing.

“There was nothing like the golf course. We gave it our all in the fourth round, and I can’t believe that. I really, truly wanted to be in this event, and it’s such a great area to visit.

“I had an excellent run there through 13 to 15 and I’m happy to see Charl with all the things he has been going thru with his shoulder with injuries that he’s golfing great and I just got fortunate on this one.”

The last group only finished seven holes on day four due to lightning threats and severe rain, so they reconvened on Monday morning at 9 a.m. local time to finish their final rounds on the eighth fairway.

Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen were tied at the top on 16 under par, but Oosthuizen took the lead nearly instantly thanks to a superb up and down. The four-time champion shot a poor approach into the trees and had to make a bogey to fall behind by one.

Both players answered with a birdie at the eleventh hole, which came after trading pars at the ninth and three-putts for bogey at the tenth. Louis Oosthuizen twisted his wedge shot back superbly past the pin to set up his birdie, while Schwartzel sunk his own gain with a putt from off the green.

After making his second long putt in as many holes, Schwartzel was able to momentarily catch up to the leader, but Oosthuizen eventually surged clear. He then made back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 with long putts of his own. At the 15th, he again made a great wedge shot to help secure a three-shot lead with three holes remaining.

It appeared to be a comfortable advantage at first, but there was still drama to be had. The leader’s lead was cut to two after he made a mistake on the par four 17th hole. On the 18th hole, his tee ball struck a tree and ended up in the stream that divides the 18th and 9th holes at Leopard Creek Golf Club.

This gave Schwartzel the opportunity to try to force a play-off, but his wedge shot wasn’t much closer than Oosthuizen’s fourth, and his second shot to the par five just cleared the water at the side of the green. He still had a chance, but Oosthuizen’s winning putt shut the door, and Schwartzel lost his birdie opportunity to end the hole with the same score as they began, earning his fifth runner-up spot in this competition.