Louis Oosthuizen defended his Africa Open title in some style this past weekend at East London GC, South Africa, as he put the contents of his bag to good use to hold off compatriot Tjaart Van der Walt.
It’s clear to see from his final score of 27 under par – only two off the record set by Ernie Els at the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic – that the South African was on top form last week, and this is backed up by the rest of his stats.
With its generous fairways, East London GC does not require the straightest of hitting, proven by the fact that the champion only managed to find the short grass from the tee 60 per cent of the time. But he managed to back this up with some prodigious hitting that saw him average 292.1 yards from the tee with the driver, and ninth in the standings for the week.
If you’re closer to the greens it generally makes them easier to hit – even if you are coming in from the rough – and Oosthuizen proved this, finding 81.9 per cent of the putting surfaces across all four days.
Anyone who plays the game knows that if you’re finding greens it takes a lot of pressure of your putter, and our champ this week was again evidence of this, rolling his rock better than most, en route to finishing fourth in putts per green in regulation and 12th in putts per round. Impressive numbers, the culmination of which came on Sunday at the ninth when Oosthuizen rolled in a 30 foot birdie putt that proved the catalyst for a tournament-winning back nine.
This win – his fourth on The European Tour – is the climax of a fantastic run of form that has seen Oosthuizen finish in the top eight on five consecutive appearances before this week, a streak that goes back to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in September.
Here is what he had in his bag:
Ball | Titleist, Pro V1 X | ||||||
Shoe | FootJoy | ||||||
Driver | Ping, Rapture V2 - 9° | ||||||
1st Fairway Wood | Nike, SQ - 15° | ||||||
2nd Fairway Wood | Nike, SQ - 19° | ||||||
3 - 9 Iron | Ping, S56 | ||||||
Pitching Wedge | Ping, S56 - 47° | ||||||
Sand Wedge | Ping, S56 - 54° | ||||||
Lob Wedge | Ping, S56 - 60° | ||||||
Putter | Ping, Scottsdale ZB S |
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