Oosthuizen holds off compatriots to win Alfred Dunhill Championship

Louis Oosthuizen holed a 20-foot putt to secure a two-shot victory in the delayed final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Oosthuizen came out on top in his final-round duel with close friend and fellow South African Charl Schwartzel to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Monday, securing his first European tour title in five years.

Closing with a three-under 69, Oosthuizen won by two strokes after a nervy finish saw him make a bogey at the 17th and roll in a long par putt at the par-five 18th hole; hitting his drive into water.

“I just got lucky on this one,” said the 2010 British Open champion, who finished on 18 under.

The final stages of the tournament was pushed back a day after stormy weather disruption meant Sunday’s play was halted.

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa was Louis Oosthuizen’s closest challenger, finishing just two off the event winner

Both Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, major champions and players in the Saudi-funded breakaway LIV Golf series, resumed on the eighth hole in a tie for the lead – three strokes clear of their nearest challenger, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

They were still tied with six holes to play, when Oosthuizen made birdies from 10 feet, 30 feet and six feet to move into a three-shot lead.

He gave one back on the 17th and arrived at the final hole with a two-stroke lead over Schwartzel, only to push his tee shot into a water hazard. He took a drop, chipped into the fairway and hit his fourth shot to about 25 feet, with Schwartzel on the green for a birdie opportunity from closer in.

However, Oosthuizen holed his putt and pumped his fist, knowing he had claimed a 10th win on the European tour and a first since the South African Open in December 2018.

Schwartzel, who was looking to win the event for a fifth time, shot 71 and finished in second place, two strokes clear of Bezuidenhout.

“I knew I needed to play well – Charl plays really well around this place,” Oosthuizen said.

“I made a few putts there in the middle of the round and got ahead of Charl. I was in between what to do on 18, and made five the hard way.”

Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished the event in third place with 14 under par

It means the tour’s three season-opening events in South Africa were all won by home national players, with Dean Burmester triumphing in both the Joburg Open and the South African Open Championship .

Live coverage of the DP World Tour continues on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday, December 14 with the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (8.30am). Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with NOW.