SANDWICH, England. – South African Louis Oosthuizen held his nerve to lead the British Open by one shot after a gripping third round played out in bright sunshine at Royal St George’s on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, had moved serenely to 13-under-par with a birdie at the ninth hole before two bogeys, his second and third of the tournament, halted his progress.
Americans Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa joined him in a three-way tie for the lead, but Oosthuizen then sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th to move back to the top of the leaderboard and carded a 69 to finish at 12-under.
“There’s lots of golf left, but it was so great with all the fans there,” Oosthuizen told reporters.
“It felt like it was a Sunday afternoon really when I made the putt, and I was taking the lead.
“I had a few loose swings before that on my iron shots and sort of needed that little boost and made a really good swing on 16 and a few good ones coming in.”
Oosthuizen, 38, has finished second in six major championships since his triumph at St. Andrews 11 years ago.
“A lead is not like you can just hang tight and just hit a few shots coming in,” he said. “You need to still play proper golf and place the ball really well to avoid bogeys.”
