Louis Oosthuizen has won the weather-affected Alfred Dunhill Championship by two shots, the South African holding off his fellow countryman and LIV teammate Charl Schwartzel to claim his tenth DP World Tour title.
The former Open champion, normally quite a reserved character, faced a 20-footer for par on the par-5 18th, and he punched the air in the delight after it found the bottom of the cup.
Schwartzel needed to produce something special going down Leopard Creek’s dramatic final hole, but the former Masters champion had to settle for second place.
“I feel very calm now,” said a relieved, and very wet, Oosthuizen. “I can't believe we got a fourth round in with everything we got. It’s such a great place to come to. This is a tournament that I really, really wanted.”
Entering the final round on Sunday sharing a five-shot lead at 15 under, the Major-winning pair completed just four holes before there was a delay of nearly five hours due to the threat of lightning.
Although the players were able to play a further 42 minutes, another day was always going to be required – and it was Oosthuizen who found some of his best stuff on Monday.
Schwartzel, a three-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, started the back nine with a bogey, before responding with back-to-back birdies to spring back into life.
However, his birdie on 12 was his last of the day, and it was his Stinger GC teammate who took control with three successive birdies from the 13th.
With Dean Burmester’s South African double and Joaquin Niemann’s win at the Australian Open, the last four DP World Tour tournaments have been won by LIV players.
It’s a statistic people will point to and, once again, argue the point that LIV Golf players should be earning Official World Golf Ranking points.
