The Punter's De-brief: Louis finally captures Leopard Creek crown

• Oosty wins despite late wobble

• Close friend Charl finishes runner-up

• Read my Mauritius Open preview here

With poor weather forecast, the fourth and final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship started an hour-and-half earlier than originally planned on Sunday morning. It wasn't long before play was suspended, with the leading group having just driven off the eighth tee.

Play almost resumed a couple of times but after the players had warmed up and got back into position at around 16:30 local time, the stormy weather moved back in again and play was abandoned for the day.

Having made big moves in round three, close friends Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen had eased five strokes clear of the field. They were still locked together at the top of the leaderboard when play was ditched on Sunday afternoon, although Christiaan Bezuidenhout, had closed to within three.

Schwartzel, a pre-event 48.047/1 chance in search of his fifth Alfred Dunhill title, was matched at a low of 2.01/1 on Sunday. When play resumed on Monday, however, he bogeyed the eighth and 10th and what might have been an exciting finale looked like turning into a damp squib.

Oosthuizen looked to be giving the other two a chance when he dropped a shot at the 10^th and Bezuidenhout, a pre-event 17.533/2 chance, hit a low of 5.04/1, when Oosty's drop saw him close to within two, but that was as good as it got for the 2020 winner.

With Schwartzel within one, and Bez just two back, Oosthuizen turned the whole day around with this magnificent approach at the 11^th.

The first to reach -17 and @Louis57TM leads by one #DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/GQ5rmFoLEf

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 11, 2023

Oosthuizen, a pre-event 20.019/1 chance, made a magnificent up-and-down for par three at the tricky 12^th hole. Birdies at 13, 14 and 15 saw him ease three clear of Schwartzel and five in front of Bez.

It looked like a done deal and he was matched for plenty at 1.011/100 when leading by three with two to play. But we've seen strange things happen here before and it briefly looked like we might see another calamitous finish.

Louis wins by two after late wobble

By his own admission, Oosthuizen had let a couple of chances to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship slip.

In 12 previous visits to Leopard Creek, he'd finish second a couple of times and just for a few minutes it looked like the Golfing Gods might deny him again.

A poor drive at the penultimate hole led to a bogey at 17, after a very edgy missed par saving putt, and when he drove into the water off the tee on the par five finishing hole his price spiked back up to 1.42/5.

After a penalty drop, he played a decent fourth to set up a chance to save his par but with Schwartzel alongside the green in two, a playoff was a distinct possibility.

Schwartzel's price had spiked to 110.0109/1 after 16 holes of the fourth round but all of a sudden, he was back in with a chance of winning his fifth Alfred Dunhill Championship.

If he'd gotten up-and-down for a birdie four, Schwartzel would have heaped loads of pressure on his good friend, but his chip wasn't great and although he was inside Oosty, it was long odds-on he'd make a two-putt par as opposed to the birdie four required.

It looked in all probability that Oosthuizen was going to have two putts for the title but to his credit, he only needed one.

Tour victories for @Louis57TM! #DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/KOCWz17kgq

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 11, 2023

This was a title that Louis had been desperate to secure so he'll be in great heart heading to Mauritius this week, and to a course he helped to design.

Can Oosthuizen emulate Burmester?

As highlighted in the Mauritius Open preview, Oosthuizen co-designed La Réserve Golf Links alongside renowned South African designer Peter Matkovich. So Oosthuizen should have an edge over the rest this week and he may well emulate Dean Burmester, who won back-to-back events at the Joburg Open and the South Africa Open prior to Louis' win at Leopard Creek.

If Oosthuizen does win, it will be the fifth DP World Tour event in-a-row won by a LIV player following Burmester's back-to-back victories, Joaquín Niemann's success at the Australian Open a week ago and Louis' win at Leopard Creek. That's quite something given they're not allowed to play in DP World Tour events.

The South African pair have been able to play because the tournaments have been co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour. Niemann was in the line up Down Under on account of that event being co-sanctioned with the PGA of Australasia.

Read The Punter's Mauritius Open preview here

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