South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen may have fallen a shot short at the Australian Open but he will start this week’s Presidents Cup as a key man for Ernie Els’ side.
He arrives at Royal Melbourne as the only Internationals player with a winning record in the biennial team competition and now full of confidence after a final round charge – capped by an eagle on the last – that left him just short of the win at The Australian Golf Club where local Matt Jones held out.
Jones – a former winner of the Houston Open – ultimately survived a drama-filled trip down the par-5 18th to secure his second national championship at the course he grew up on.
Oosthuizen’s eagle left him with the round of the day, a 5-under 66 and finished at 14 under. But Jones dropped in a testy 5-foot par put after going from bunker, to woodchips, to a tight lie short of the green to win by a shot.
Still, Oosthuizen showed he will be a force at this week’s Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne against Tiger Woods and his formidable U.S. Team.
‘I used this week as preparation for next and obviously I’ll take a lot of confidence out of this and hopefully we can pull it off next week,’ said Oosthuizen, who moved to 20th in the world.
‘I’m ready. Game face is on now and I’m ready.’
Marc Leishman was the next best member of the International Team and finished in a tie for 10th. Cameron Smith was tied for 27th and defending champion Abraham Ancer was 33rd.
‘We’re ready to go, and looking forward to it,’ Leishman said.
‘I’m pleased with the way I drove the ball and then the way I chipped. I putted well; I just wasn’t reading the greens awesome, but off the tee and around the greens I was pretty pleased with.
‘If I could take that over into next week and sharpen my irons up a little bit, should be good to go. It’s been a pretty easy week this week energy-wise, so we are excited about next week and hopefully we can play well.’
Adam Scott and C.T. Pan failed to make the cut although Els was not concerned with their form. Byeong Hun An, Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama, Haotong Li, Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im all rested this week.
‘My long-term view is long-term form. I’ve picked guys who have played well for a long term. One week or one round is not going to change anything in my view,’ Els said.
‘The guys are quality players; they’ve made great strides in making the team and I believe in them. If they have a bad round or a bad tournament, it’s not changing my view on that.’
Jones, fellow Australian Aaron Pike and Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya all booked spots in the 2020 Open Championship at Royal St George’s from July 16-19 as the highest three players not already exempt.
