Louis Oosthuizen hits a tee shot during the second round of LIV Golf Singapore on Friday. The Southern Guards captain put in another strong performance heading into day three of the competition.
Image: LIV GOLF
South African Louis Oosthuizen has quietly worked his way up the leaderboard at LIV Golf Singapore and heads into the weekend with a real shot at the title as the Southern Guards captain targets his first individual win of the season.
Trailing Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau by only three shots going into moving day at Sentosa Club on Saturday, Oosthuizen has put himself into contention with some controlled golf and clutch scrambles after errors.
The South African ended day two on seven-under, with American DeChambeau mounting a fightback to claim the solo lead on -10. Oosthuizen has enjoyed a revival on the Asian leg of the LIV Series, and his current form bodes well for the debut of LIV Golf South Africa next week at Steyn City.
While he is focused on his golf on the course for now, Oosthuizen admits the thoughts of the SA tournament remain in the back of his mind.
“Obviously, when you're on the golf course, you don't think about that, but I'm sure I'll be on my phone this afternoon trying to sort out a few things,” the Southern Guards leader said.
“Right now, we’re all very excited just to — the fact that we’re bringing this field to South Africa is a massive thing for our country, and I think we’re just excited to see LIV being in South Africa. We’re pretty busy with still lots of things that we’re getting ready. And some of the staff have already gone back to SA to go and sort things out and get things ready.”
Oosthuizen played alongside overnight leader, Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm and his teammate Tyrrell Hatton. Rahm is currently tied for second with the South African alongside Thomas Detry (4Aces), Lee Westwood (Majestics) and wildcard Richard T. Lee.
According to Oosthuizen, he felt in control for most of his round and tried to give himself as many birdie opportunities as he could. His round included six birdies, but he also made a couple of bogeys.
“I felt I saw the greens really well today, the lines, and rolled the putter well. I had a few hiccups on a few holes and made stupid bogeys on holes 9 and 14, but the rest was pretty solid. I think it’s windier this year. It was definitely after our third hole that the wind was picking up very strongly.
“There’s a lot of trouble around this golf course. You need to just grind it out the whole time. There’s not really one shot where you can just not really focus on; you need to just grind it out the whole way around.”
The Southern Guards are still in fourth place in the team competition. Charl Schwartzel (-2) had a strong second round, while Dean Burmester (-1) and Branden Grace (even-par) ensured the team did not lose ground on the leaders.
A more inspired performance on Saturday’s moving day could see the South Africans challenge for a top three spot.