Louis Oosthuizen is a Major champion who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world and has achieved an abundance of accolades in a stellar career. But this one, a victory in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and with his family there to see him win for the first time in his career and also claim back-to-back title for the first time, is special indeed.
With a birdie on the last hole of a La Réserve Golf Links course that he co-designed with Peter Matkovich for a final round of 69, Oosthuizen claimed his second victory in as many weeks on the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour with a two-shot triumph on Sunday.
“I’ve never gone back-to-back in my life before so it’s a big dream to be able to do that, and then having my family with me for the first time when I’ve won in my career is very special,” said Oosthuizen, who closed out the week on 17 under par to add to his victory last week in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Oosthuizen’s victory completes a remarkable run by South African golfers in the four Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournaments to end this year, with Dean Burmester winning both the Joburg Open and the Investec South African Open.
England’s Laurie Canter finished second on 15 under par following a closing 68, while Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg signed for a 63 to share third place on 14 under par alongside England’s Daniel Brown (65) and South Africa’s Jacques P de Villiers (71).
Having only arrived in Mauritius in the early hours of last Tuesday morning following the Monday finish of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, Oosthuizen had to quickly acclimatise to not only the travel but also a golf course which even though he co-designed he had yet to play himself.
“The golf course was spectacular to play and I think in a year or two, when it has settled and the greens are faster and the rough will have grown a bit, it’s going to be really tough. But for the team here to get this ready to be hosting the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open this year was some magic,” said Oosthuizen.
The South African didn’t have the best start with back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes which opened the door for several others to challenge for the lead.
“I started poorly and didn’t hit it great, but then I found some rhythm there on holes six, seven and eight. On the back nine I felt really comfortable and started hitting good shots. And coming down the 18th it’s nice to have three putts to win,” said Oosthuizen.
And there’s every indication that he plans to return next year.
“These two events (the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open) will probably go on my schedule now, and from now on will be a nice way to start my holiday.”
Scores:
271 – Louis Oosthuizen 68 69 65 69
273 – Laurie Canter 66 74 65 68
274 – Sebastian Soderberg 69 65 77 63, Daniel Brown 68 68 73 65, Jacques P de Villiers 68 67 68 71
275 – Jayden Schaper 65 74 67 69
276 – Thomas Aiken 68 75 67 66, Darren Fichardt 66 72 70 68, Lyle Rowe 66 71 70 69
277 – John Catlin 69 71 71 66
278 – Santiago Tarrio 68 72 72 66, Jeff Winther 69 68 73 68, Kazuki Higa 70 70 70 68, Oliver Farr 69 72 69 68, Dylan Naidoo 68 69 71 70
279 – Paul Waring 63 73 72 71, Marcel Siem 69 69 70 71
280 – Lars van Meijel 67 71 75 67, Tom Vaillant 71 70 72 67, Andrea Pavan 68 75 70 67, Pedro Figueiredo 68 69 75 68, Soren Broholt Lind 71 69 72 68, Renato Paratore 68 74 70 68, Deon Germishuys 68 74 69 69
281 – Kristian Krogh Johannessen 69 70 72 70, Joakim Lagergren 68 70 72 71, Casey Jarvis 67 73 70 71, Jaco Prinsloo 67 72 67 75
282 – Alexander Levy 69 73 71 69, Antoine Rozner 62 74 73 73, Marcel Schneider 67 68 73 74, Pieter Moolman 67 71 69 75
283 – Angel Ayora 69 71 73 70
284 – Bradley Bawden 68 71 77 68, Rupert Kaminski 67 74 75 68, Sam Bairstow 71 71 71 71, Angel Hidalgo 74 69 69 72, Oliver Bekker 71 69 71 73, Louis de Jager 67 72 70 75
285 – Garrick Porteous 74 69 72 70, Guido Migliozzi 73 67 74 71, Ryan Van Velzen 68 72 74 71, Brandon Stone 68 70 75 72, Daniel van Tonder 72 69 72 72, Steven Brown 71 70 72 72, Jacques Kruyswijk 72 71 70 72
287 – Wilco Nienaber 69 68 77 73, Matthew Southgate 72 69 73 73
288 – Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 73 70 74 71, Matthew Baldwin 73 68 75 72, Anthony Michael 69 73 73 73, Dan Erickson 66 73 75 74, Jens Dantorp 71 72 70 75
289 – Danie Van Niekerk 71 72 75 71, Jake Redman 68 73 76 72, Peter Karmis 72 71 73 73, Jordan Gumberg 70 73 69 77, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 68 71 72 78
290 – Marc Warren 71 72 74 73, Andrew Martin 70 72 74 74, Chase Hanna 69 72 74 75
291 – Haydn Porteous 68 73 76 74
292 – Toto Thimba Jnr 72 71 74 75
295 – Daan Huizing 70 73 80 72
WDN – Andrew Johnston 71 71 71 WDN
Missed the cut:-
144 – Malcolm Mitchell 73 71, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 73 71, Tom Lewis 70 74, Matteo Manassero 67 77, Max Rottluff 69 75, Martin Vorster 69 75, Sam Hutsby 69 75, Martin Couvra 68 76, Frank Kennedy 69 75, Jeong Weon Ko 68 76, JJ Senekal 72 72, John Axelsen 72 72, Samuel Jones 71 73, Matthis Besard 73 71, Keenan Davidse 69 75
145 – Martin Rohwer 70 75, Stefan Wears-Taylor 69 76, Hennie Otto 71 74, Wynand Dingle 75 70, Yurav Premlall 74 71, Mateusz Gradecki 69 76, Sebastian Friedrichsen 70 75, Neil Schietekat 73 72, Hennie O’Kennedy 71 74, Jovan Rebula 73 72, Merrick Bremner 69 76
146 – Freddy Schott 70 76, Dylan Frittelli 71 75, Clement Sordet 70 76, Clancy Waugh 73 73, Matthieu Pavon 70 76, Keagan Thomas 72 74, Nicolo Galletti 74 72, Jack Davidson 71 75, Tapio Pulkkanen 70 76
147 – Kyle Barker 72 75, Joachim B. Hansen 71 76, Haydn Barron 73 74, Keegan Mclachlan 70 77, Jeppe Kristian Andersen 71 76, Jacques Blaauw 72 75, Jonathan Broomhead 72 75, Stuart Manley 74 73, Luca Filippi 73 74, Louis Albertse 69 78
148 – Adam Breen 73 75, Nicolai Kristensen 68 80, David Ravetto 71 77, Will Enefer 71 77, Ruan Korb 70 78, Anton Karlsson 73 75, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 68 80, Jamie Donaldson 71 77, Andrew Wilson 74 74, Lauri Ruuska 77 71
149 – David Wicks 74 75, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 73 76, Benjamin Follett-Smith 73 76, Rhys Enoch 74 75, Nikhil Rama 70 79, Ashley Chesters 75 74, Heinrich Bruiners 70 79
150 – JC Ritchie 71 79, Luke Jerling 73 77, Stuart Krog 74 76, Hayden Griffiths 75 75, Regan Steyn 78 72, Sean Bradley 70 80, Ivan Cantero 77 73
151 – Conner Mackenzie 75 76
152 – MJ Viljoen 79 73, Julien Quesne 71 81
153 – Jaco Van Zyl 72 81, Robin Williams 73 80, Rourke van der Spuy 77 76, Estiaan Conradie 73 80, Pierre Pellegrin 78 75, Oliver Hundeboll 73 80
154 – Rhys West 76 78, Tristen Strydom 75 79, Robson Chinhoi 76 78
155 – Soren Kjeldsen 79 76
156 – Mike Lorenzo-Vera 78 78, Dylan Mostert 81 75, Benjamin Rusch 72 84, Aneurin Gounden 73 83
157 – Vaughn van Deventer 80 77
158 – Albert Venter 74 84
160 – Joshua Berry 79 81
164 – Combrinck Smit 81 83
RTD – Alexander Knappe 69 RTD
The 2023 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open has once again drawn a glittering array of blue-chip sponsors, including AfrAsia Bank, Rogers Group, Rogers Hospitality, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, IBL, Beachcomber Resorts and Hotels, Heritage Villas Valriche, Phoenix Beverages, Jacobs Coffee, Pro Carts, Mautourco, KOHLER, Häagen Dazs and Oxenham.
