Louis Oosthuizen lurking at Valspar Championship

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen carded an opening four-under 67 to lie three shots off the lead at the Valspar Championship on Thursday. Picture Erik S. Lesser/EPA

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen carded an opening four-under 67 to lie three shots off the lead at the Valspar Championship on Thursday. Picture Erik S. Lesser/EPA

Published Mar 18, 2022

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Centurion - South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen carded an opening four-under 67 to lie three shots off the lead at the Valspar Championship in Florida, USA, on Thursday.

Oosthuizen holds a share of 12th, with four players - Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, Canadian Adam Hadwin and Americans Sam Burns and David Lipsky - setting the pace on seven-under 64.

Beginning his day on the 10th hole, Oosthuizen picked up his first birdie at the par five 11th before following with three more in a row. At the par four 12th, Oosthuizen poured in a 15-footer from the fringe for a birdie before sticking his tee shot at the par three 13th to four feet for third this gain on the trot.

At the par five 14th, another good approach - this time with a wedge from 96 metres setup a five-footer for birdie which Oosthuizen glided in with ease.

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Though he dropped a shot at the par three 15th, Oosthuizen pulled that shot back at the par three 17th where he stroked in a 14-footer to move back to four-under for his round.

The front nine was a quieter affair for Oosthuizen as he offset two bogeys with two birdies, to complete a solid opening salvo.

Next best among the four-player SA contingent was Christiaan Bezuidenhout with a round of one-under 70 in a tie for 69th.

Branden Grace was further down in a tie for 90th on level par 71.

Charl Schwartzel struggled to a five-over 76 for 137th place, but his score would have been even worse had he not holed his approach from 176 metres at the par four 16th for eagle.

However, it would remain an error-strewn round for the 2011 Masters champion as he carded a triple bogey, two double bogeys and three bogeys.