Louis Oosthuizen endured a terrible start to the week, but can still take some positives away from the BMW Championship, despite missing out on the top 30.

Oosthuizen was close to withdrawing after suffering from flu-like symptoms – a small explanation of what went wrong during his opening two rounds of 77-74. He persevered, felt better and shot 66 on Saturday.

He bounced up and down the bubble line for the top 30 ahead of East Lake but even his closing 67 was just not enough as he finished 31st.

‘Played well on the weekend,’ Oosthuizen said.

‘Could’ve had loads more birdies today and yesterday, but I’m pleased, in general. I didn’t have much momentum going into Saturday, had a lot to do. I thought if I could get to 2-under I wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else.

‘I don’t know if I was coming down with the flu or something. I felt horrible. I had no energy, wasn’t hitting it anywhere, was struggling everywhere. I was thinking about not playing Friday.’

Internationals captain Nick Price will be pleased with his star’s weekend efforts – far more King Louis-like compared to Thursday and Friday.

Another reason to smile for Price was the finish of his pick Anirban Lahiri. The India finished T9 after a weekend of 68-66 to go with the top five finish of Jason Day and the win by Marc Leishman.

‘Anyone having good form going into next week and Presidents Cup for our side is going to be great,’ Oosthuizen said. ‘Leish has been playing well for a while, and it’s great seeing Jason’s name up there. If he can get going, he can be the best asset on the team to have.’

The 34-year-old will have a week off – like countryman and teammate Charl Schwartzel – ahead of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, which starts on 28 September.

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