Louis Oosthuizen made it back-to-back DP World Tour wins after prevailing in an enthralling final-day battle at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The 41-year-old South African entered round four at Heritage La Réserve Golf Club with a one-shot lead, but soon saw that disappear as playing partner Jacques de Villiers, Laurie Canter and the charging Sebastian Söderberg all staked a claim.
It was nip and tuck over a dramatic back nine in the Indian Ocean but in the end Oosthuizen’s 69 was enough to hand him a two-shot victory over Canter at 17 under.
Söderberg, who shot a final round 63, finished tie second alongside de Villiers and England’s Daniel Brown, who finished at 14 under, one clear of South Africa’s Jayden Schaper.
OOSTHUIZEN ON A ROLL
The triumph at the weather-delayed Alfred Dunhill Championship last time out was Oosthuizen’s first for five years, but he now has two wins in six days, with this week’s coming over a course he co-designed with Peter Matkovich.
“Golf is the strangest thing,” said Ooosthuizen, who competes on the LIV Golf circuit but is able to play in DP World Tour events that are co-sanctioned with the Asia Tour. “The last five weeks I’ve not played a lot of golf. But when I got to Leopard Creek I was working on a small little thing with my swing, and I started hitting it really good and I know I’m putting well and then I just carried on with that momentum.
“I’m glad I could pull this off this week, it’s sort of a dream come true being able to play a tournament on a golf course you helped design and end up winning it. This is also the first event my daughters have been at a tournament that I have, which makes this even more special.”
LIV GOLFERS DOMINATING DP WORLD TOUR
Following Oosthuizen’s double success, it means that the last five events on the DP World Tour have been won by LIV Golf players. Dean Burmester, who also plays on the breakaway circuit, won the Joburg Open and the South African Open, while Joaquin Niemann won the Australian Open. The only non-LIV golfer to win since the new DP World Tour season began on November 23 is Min Woo Lee at the Australian PGA Championship.
With LIV golfers able to earn world ranking points through co-sanctioned events, Burmester has seen his world ranking rise from 126 to 75, while Oosthuizen has moved up to 133 from 385. Niemann, who played in all four majors this year, is up to 59 from 82.
For the full leaderboard from the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, click here.
