The Volvo Champions tournament was held last week in Durban, South Africa. On the final green during the second round, Louis Oosthuizen made a long birdie putt to take a one-shot lead ahead of Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee – he also swapped a car for an excavator to use on his South African farm!
By sinking the birdie putt, Oosthuizen’s team won a pro-am event that awarded a car to the winners. Oosthuizen then talked to the organizers and swapped the car for an excavator, which happened to be the prize for anyone who made a hole-in-one at the 15th. Oosthuizen owns a farm near Mosel Bay on the southern coast of South Africa and also spent a large chunk of his prize money from the 2010 British Open Championship on a customized tractor.
“I’ve been nagging my wife for a few years that I want something on the farm as there are a few stumps and things I need to get rid of,” Oosthuizen said. “And that’s why I stood over that putt on 18 for a bit longer than normal. So I’m going to play around with it and might dig out a few bunkers.”
However, Oosthuizen entered the final round five shots behind leader Scott Jamieson after shooting a round of 2-over 74 on Saturday. He said he had some swing troubles that he couldn’t fix on the course on Saturday and concentrated on a shorter, tighter swing during the final round – it paid off!
Oosthuizen finished the tournament with rounds of 68-64-74-66 for a 16-under-par (not quite “18-under-par!”) and tournament victory. 54-hole leader Scott Jamieson finished second after narrowly missing a chip on the 72nd hole to force a playoff.
Source: Golf.com
