Golf

Louis Oosthuizen feels short game key in Alfred Dunhill Championship defence

Tom McKibbin will play alongside the former Open champion over the first two rounds at Leopard Creek

Louis Oosthuizen celebrates with Dean Burmester on the 18th green after winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in December 2023. Photograph: Luke Walker/Getty Images
Louis Oosthuizen celebrates with Dean Burmester on the 18th green after winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in December 2023. Photograph: Luke Walker/Getty Images
Wed Dec 11 2024 - 15:19

Louis Oosthuizen feels his short game will again be key as he looks to mount a successful defence of the Alfred Dunhill Championship back on home soil in Leopard Creek, South Africa this week.

Former Open champion Oosthuizen claimed a two-shot victory over compatriot Charl Schwartzel on a Monday finish following the threat of lightning and heavy rain to end at 18 under, landing a 10th DP World Tour title and his first in five years.

Oosthuizen expects the conditions to a “big factor” again as the players battle searing temperatures which could be as high as 42 degrees on Friday afternoon before cooling into the weekend with more cloudy cover.

“It is really nice defending. I have sort of had ups and downs around this golf course, so getting the win last year was a big one for me and my career,” Oosthuizen said in an interview with the DP World Tour website.

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“The golf course looks great and I think this week the weather will be a big factor with the heat.”

Oosthuizen, who went on to also win the 2023 Mauritius Open for back-to-back tournament victories, added: “[Last year] the putter was working nicely. I gave myself as much birdie opportunities as possible and I think that is again key this week.”

Oosthuizen will play alongside Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin in the opening two rounds, with another South African, Dean Burmester, making up the group.

As well as Oosthuizen looking to become only the third player to successful defend the Alfred Dunhill Championship title, there will also be plenty of other home interest at the event which overlooks Kruger National Park.

Rising star Aldrich Potgieter, 20, will be aiming to build on finishing in a tie for second at last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, where Johannes Veerman claimed the title on a dramatic final afternoon.

Potgieter – who won the British Amateur Championship in 2022 at Royal Lytham & St Annes – looked on course to clinch his maiden DP World Tour success when leading by three shots after 10 holes, before a six at the par-three 12th and two more bogeys over the last three holes proved costly.

“I am just enjoying last week’s experience, but am still looking for the stuff that didn’t happen there,” Potgieter said. “I will try to take it all into this week and have four good days here.”

Former Masters champion Schwartzel will return to Leopard Creek in search of a record fifth title.

Thriston Lawrence is South Africa’s highest-ranked player at 46th in the world and third on the 2024 Race to Dubai rankings.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the 2020 champion, will also be in the field, as will Erik van Rooyen and Burmester.

Englishman Nathan Kimsey is back in DP World Tour action for the first time in 11 months following a wrist injury.

Scotland’s Gregor Graham – a winner of the Brabazon Trophy and South African Amateur earlier this year – is set to make his professional debut.