Greenbrier Recap: Fast-finishing Oosthuizen flirts with a 59; Stingers place ninth
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – While Stinger GC did not collectively enjoy the best of weeks at LIV Golf Greenbrier, captain Louis Oosthuizen signed off in sizzling style on Sunday as he came tantalizingly close to shooting a rare 59.
With the rain-softened Old White course receptive to low scoring, the smooth-swinging South African racked up a total of 11 birdies on the day and narrowly missed a 12-footer on his penultimate hole before closing with a monster putt on the sixth green.
That earned Oosthuizen a superb 10-under 60 in the final round, and rocketed him into eighth place on the individual leaderboard at 14-under for the 54 holes.
"I made so many putts today," said Oosthuizen, winner of the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews. "I'm going to go watch it all on video because I've never seen myself make that many putts in my life!
"We all know it's that type of golf course. If you're playing well and you start making putts, you feel like you can shoot a low number. To make it happen, it was pretty cool to be on that side of it."
Branden Grace was next best for Stinger GC, firing a 64 for a share of 20th spot, while Dean Burmester (69) and Charl Schwartzel (72) both finished well off the pace in the bottom third on the leaderboard.
With Oosthuizen leading by example, the Stingers produced a cumulative score of 15-under on the last day, but that was only good enough for ninth place on the team leaderboard.
All in all, a disappointing week for the all-Southern African combination who had arrived in West Virginia with great expectations after placing fifth, third and tied for fifth in their previous three starts.
For Oosthuizen, however, Sunday's final round was proof positive of a hugely successful 2024 campaign in which he has again proved to be one of the most successful players in LIV Golf.
His sensational finish on Sunday kept him in fifth place in the season-long individual standings and he heads to next month's LIV Golf Chicago – the final regular-season event - as one of just six players who remain mathematically alive to clinch the coveted individual title.
"I've been playing well," said the 41-year-old Oosthuizen, who has been a runner-up this season in both Jeddah and Adelaide. "First round here, I think I was trying too hard, thinking too much on a few things in my swing. So I said screw it, and after that I started playing a lot better."
Sunday could hardly have gone any better for him. He birdied six of his first eight holes after starting at the par-4 seventh. He then picked up further shots at 17 and 18 and he entertained thoughts about dipping under 60 before he ran up his only bogey of the day at the par-4 first.
"When we teed off on one, I had six holes left and I said to my caddie, 'Just three more birdies, let's do it!' Then the rain came and I squirted my driver on one and I made bogey," said Oosthuizen.
He went on to birdie the second and fourth, came agonizingly close from 12 feet at the fifth and then signed off in style by sinking a 40-foot birdie putt at the par-4 sixth.
"I just pulled the birdie attempt on five, and I knew it (the chance of a 59) was done," smiled Oosthuizen, who leads the league this season for scrambling and ranks second in putting. "Then the last putt was just a bonus."
The Stingers have been hit-or-miss in their first 12 LIV Golf starts this season and are currently seventh in the team standings - 47 points outside third place, which is the final seed to earn a first-round bye for the season-ending Team Championship to be played at Maridoe Golf Club in Texas from September 20-22.