Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood falter in the final round of the HSBC Champions
After leading the first three rounds of the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions, Louis Oosthuizen faltered in the final round to slip to the share of the sixth place, on Sunday, November 4, 2012.
The HSBC Champions was the last of the four WGCs of the season, and is the only WGC held outside the United States.
The South African played amazingly well in the first three rounds and posted rounds of 65, 63 and 70.
Entering the final round, he was sharing the top spot with the former world number one, Lee Westwood, with an 18-under par overall score.
Throughout the final round, he struggled with his putter and failed to avail the birdie opportunities he created. Furthermore, he was not able to save easy pars, which cost him the victory in the end.
After conceding a bogey on the first hole, he bounced back with a couple of birdies on the fifth and the seventh hole. However, another bogey on the eighth hole moved him back to an equal-par score for the round.
The back nine of the course also witnessed him record two birdies against the same number of bogeys to finish with an 18-under par tournament score.
Westwood, in the meantime, also had a similar day. Despite getting off to a confident start – he birdied four of the first eight holes – he finished the round with an-equal par score.
His round included a total of five birdies against three bogeys and a double bogey. At the end of the week, he found himself sharing the sixth position with Oosthuizen.
The three-time Masters champion, Phil Mickelson, who desperately needed an eagle on the 18th hole to force the game into a playoff, finished tied for the second position after recording a par putt on the final hole.
Talking to the reporters, he stated that he was pleased with his performance, especially when he was playing his first professional event after the Ryder Cup. He will now move on to participate in next week’s Singapore Open.
"I'll see if I can improve one spot there," he said. "It was good for me to come back after having not played since the Ryder Cup and pick up where I left off".
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