World No. 6 Louis Oosthuizen fired a six-under-par 66 to overhaul third-round leader Scott Jamieson and clinch the Volvo Golf Champions by one shot on Sunday, a victory that will move him to fourth in the rankings.
Jamieson had held a five-stroke advantage after 54 holes, but seven birdies from the 2010 British Open champion Oosthuizen gave him a sixth European Tour win on 16-under 272 ahead of Briton Jamieson (72), who nearly holed a chip at the 18th to force a playoff.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (68) sealed third place a shot further back, while triple major winner Padraig Harrington (68) finished fourth on 12-under.
Photo: AFP
Oosthuizen, who on Saturday surrendered the lead as he struggled to a 74, birdied two of the first three holes to put the pressure on Jamieson.
Further birdies at the sixth and eighth holes rounded off an outward nine of 32 and he had reduced the deficit to one by the turn.
Birdies at the 10th and 11th holes propelled him into the lead, and despite bogeying the par-four 16th after finding the greenside bunker, Oosthuizen’s two-putt pars at the 17th and 18th holes were enough to clinch victory.
“I played the complete opposite of what I did yesterday [Saturday],” the 30-year-old, who was to move to a career-high fourth place in the rankings released yesterday, told reporters. “Yesterday I felt really uncomfortable — my swing felt long and unstable. This morning I worked on a few things on the range and put my head down. I knew if I could just put a score up there, or just get close to Scott, that I had a good chance.”
Oosthuizen, who has now recorded a win in the last three seasons in his native South Africa, said his ambition was to climb even higher in the rankings although world No. 1 Rory McIlroy was a little far off.
“Top spot is a tough one. I think Rory [McIlroy] is far ahead, so if I can somehow get myself to number two then I can work on trying to get to number one,” he said.
Scot Jamieson, who won his maiden European Tour title at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Championship in Durban five weeks ago, nearly forced a playoff when his eagle chip at the short par-four 18th finished inches from the cup.
“I almost had a grand-stand finish at the end there,” the world No. 100 told reporters after a frustrating day where he managed just three birdies, a double-bogey on the front nine proving costly.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS