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Hole-out helps Oosthuizen reach top eight

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 18: Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa plays his second shot on the 4th hole during round three of ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth at Lake Karrinyup Country Club on February 18, 2017 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Louis Oosthuizen kept bogeys off the card and made three birdies on Saturday at the World Super 6, but his hole-out for eagle at the 13th made all the difference.

Compleat Golfer’s playing editor took a boost from the two-shot gain and signed for 67, which gave him a top-eight spot at the closure of the stroke play section of the tournament.

The top 24 players progress to a six-hole matchplay showdown on Monday, but the best eight of those pros receive a bye for the first round. Oosthuizen was in that elite bracket, having carded rounds of 69, 68, 67 to reach Sunday at 12 under par – a score that is now irrelevant.

‘Matchplay is a different ball game,’ he explained. ‘Your opponent can start really fast off and you can be in trouble. So it’s all on how your opponent is also going to play. So it will be a bit of a different mindset starting out tomorrow.’

‘I think from the first hole it will be like playing the last hole of a tournament. You need to focus pretty hard to get off to a quick start because it’s only six holes but it should be fun to see how it plays out,’ he added.

Australia’s Brett Rumford led throughout the first three rounds, but his impressive golf counts for little in Sunday’s six-hole races. He’ll be looking to capitalise on local knowledge, having grown up in the city of Perth, the host of this week’s tournament.

‘As I’ve said all week, you should see a bit more animation from the players. You’d fear every opponent in this kind of format,’ he said. ‘I’ve just got to keep working on what I’m working on and take the confidence and draw on the confidence from playing some really solid rounds of golf.’