Worldwide Golf

AFTER four runner-up finishes on The European Tour, Louis Oosthuizen stepped into the winner’s circle for the first time with a three-shot victory at the Open de Andalucia in Malaga.

The South African closed with a 3-under-par 67 for a 17-under-par total to seal the win from England’s Richard Finch and Scotland’s Peter Whiteford and jump into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking and seal his spot at The Masters.

“That was my goal two months ago,” said Oosthuizen, who recorded his fourth runners-up finish a week earlier at the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco. “I was quite nervous down the stretch and very nervous on the 18th tee. I just decided to hit it as hard as I could. I knew I was good enough to win one, now I want to stay in the top 50.”

Oosthuizen started the day with a one-shot lead over Robert Coles and quickly extended it with three birdies in the first five holes. Whiteford, who started four back from Oosthuizen, made a charge after picking up five shots in eight holes around the turn and had a chance to close the gap to just one stroke but missed a 12-footer for birdie on the 14^th. He then three-putted the 15^th for bogey. Oosthuizen, who was in the group behind, birdied the 14^th to extend his lead and could then afford to bogey the 16^th as he closed out the victory.

Finch birdied the final two holes to card a 3-under-67 to finish on 14-under-par for his second runner-up finish in the space of a month after finishing second at the Avantha Masters in India.

Coles finished in a share of fourth place on 12-under-par after carding a one-over-par 71 alongside Italian Francesco Molinari who shot a 67.