It was better than sitting on his farm moping after his attempt at winning another major slipped from his grasp at the Open Championship, but Louis Oosthuizen must be getting tired of being a runner-up after he finished second in the 3M Open on the PGA Tour on Sunday.
He closed with an impressive five-under-par 66 to move to 13-under-par for the tournament, but, with Cameron Champ posting the same score for his final round, he was two short of pulling off what would have been his first victory in American soil.
Oosthuizen was glad he ventured to 3M to play. He made a nice push, getting to 12-under, and very nearly holed his lob wedge approach from 95 yards at the last, his ball spinning back and gently deflecting off the flagstick. A tap-in birdie gave him the clubhouse lead at 13-under.
He left Minneapolis pretty proud of his effort. “Great track,” Oosthuizen said of TPC Twin Cities. “We had a good time here this week, and I’m just trying to see if I can go one better than all these seconds and thirds.”
He was joined in a share of second by good friend Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion who is showing all the signs of returning to form. He closed with a three-under-par 68 to complete a really good week, climbing from 70th place on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup rankings to 43rd. Schwartzel had five birdies and two bogeys in his final round.
Behind them, MJ Daffue closed with a one-under 70 to finish on three-under for the tournament in a share of 51st. Erik van Rooyen had a final round of four-under 67 to climb from last place after the cut into a share of 58th on two-under.
