Emotional Louis Oosthuizen claims South African Open

Home favourite Louis Oosthuizen hailed a “perfect” victory after he claimed the South African Open title for the first time.

An emotional Oosthuizen held back tears on the 18th green having powered to an emphatic six-shot success in Johannesburg.

The 2010 Open champion carded an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys on Sunday to sign for a closing 67 and finish the week on 18 under par.

He joins Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Bob Charles, Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson on the list of players to win both the Open and South African Open.

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Louis Oosthuizen closes in on South African Open title

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“I wish the family was here,” Oosthuizen told the European Tour website.

“I knew today was either going to be very special or heartbreaking.

“I know there are only a few that have won the Open and the SA Open so I’m very chuffed to have my name on this.

“This feels very special. This is perfect.”

Frenchman Romain Langasque was Oosthuizen’s nearest challenger on 12 under courtesy of his final-round 66 on the Firethorn Course at Randpark Golf Club.

Charl Schwartzel, who won the Masters in 2011, finished in a tie for third on

10 under alongside fellow South Africans Thomas Aiken and Bryce Easton, and England’s Oliver Wilson.

Oosthuizen entered the final day with a three-stroke lead but a shaky start saw that advantage cut to a single shot in the early stages of his fourth round.

He responded in style, though, reeling off four birdies in six holes from the

fourth before covering the back nine in 34 shots to ease to victory.

“We had a tough start today and my caddie just told me, ‘you’re swinging it well, just go for it’,” added the 36-year-old.

“I just got back to basics, to try and hit fairways and greens. I know I’m putting well, I just needed to give myself putting opportunities for birdie.

“The crowd was great this whole week, it was nice to do it for them.”

Victory for Oosthuizen was his first since the 2016 ISPS HANDA Perth International.

Collated European Tour South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg, Randpark GC, Johannesburg, South Africa (Britain unless stated, par 71):

266 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 62 70 67 67

272 Romain Langasque (Fra) 69 68 69 66

274 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 68 72 67, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 63 72 72, Oliver Wilson 73 66 68 67, Bryce Easton (Rsa) 68 69 71 66

275 Jeff Winther (Den) 68 69 68 70, Anthony Michael (Rsa) 67 71 69 68, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 66 67 72 70, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 68 70 68 69, Yi-Keun Chang (Kor) 70 65 72 68, Branden Grace (Rsa) 66 68 71 70, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 71 67 71 66, Madalitso Muthiya (Zam) 63 68 71 73

276 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 63 69 74 70, Matt Wallace 65 69 68 74, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 69 69 68 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 66 71 68 71, Robert Macintyre 70 67 68 71, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 64 68 74 70

277 Jarin Todd (USA) 68 72 69 68, Stuart Manley 67 71 68 71, Matias Calderon (Chi) 68 71 67 71

278 Laurie Canter 72 68 70 68, (a) Jovan Rebula (Rsa) 67 70 70 71, Marc Warren 68 71 70 69, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 67 69 69 73, Chris Paisley 70 70 67 71

279 Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 72 67 71 69, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 66 70 69 74, David Mcintyre (Rsa) 66 72 70 71, Ewan Ferguson 69 68 71 71

280 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 69 68 72 71, Max Schmitt (Ger) 66 72 71 71, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 65 73 72 70, Callum Shinkwin 68 71 70 71

281 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 69 69 72 71, Matthew Jordan 67 73 74 67, Matthew Nixon 69 69 71 72, Daniel Greene (Rsa) 70 68 68 75, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 70 67 74 70, Jake Roos (Rsa) 66 72 68 75

282 Deon Germishuys (a) (Rsa) 70 70 70 72, Yurav Premlall (a) (Rsa) 73 67 72 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 70 71 71, Austin Connelly (Can) 69 71 69 73, Henric Sturehed (Swe) 68 71 71 72

283 Michael G Palmer (Rsa) 70 70 71 72, Keith Horne (Rsa) 71 68 74 70, Pedro Figueiredo (Por) 67 73 71 72, John Catlin (USA) 70 70 74 69, Mark Williams (Zim) 65 68 72 78, Joel Girrbach (Swi) 70 69 69 75

284 Steven Brown 71 68 69 76, Tom Murray 66 73 74 71, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 70 67 73 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 73 66 75 70, Wilco Nienaber (a) (Rsa) 69 69 74 72

285 Jake Redman (Rsa) 68 72 71 74, Daniel Van Tonder (Rsa) 69 67 74 75, CJ Du Plessis (Rsa) 70 69 73 73, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 73 66 75 71, Jack Harrison 68 71 74 72

286 Callum Mowat (Rsa) 71 67 75 73

287 Duane Keun (Rsa) 71 67 78 71, Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 70 69 73 75, Anton Haig (Rsa) 68 69 75 75, David Gleeson (Aus) 75 65 76 71

290 Andre Nel (Rsa) 71 68 71 80, JJ Senekal (Rsa) 70 70 78 72