South African Louis Oosthuizen grabbed himself a new Olazabal course record with a sizzling nine under par 63 on day two of the WGC – HSBC Champions event in Shenzhen.
The 2010 Open Champion may have bogeyed the par three second hole but he certainly made up for it over the next 15 holes to set a new mark a day after sharing the record on day one with Australia’s Adam Scott in shooting 65s,
Included in the champion South Africans round was a seventh hole eagle and eight birdies including four in succession after the eagle, and a sum total of just 24 putts.
In fact, Oosthuizen is 11-under for the par fives over the two rounds.
Hereunder is Oosthuizen’s interview with the press after his round.
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN:- “I started off a bit shaky with a bogey on the second hole, but immediately made birdie on 3. But again, you know, I played the par 5s really well, I think I was 6‑under on them today. And you know, just the rest was putting really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdie, and hitting fairways, hitting greens, and if you make the putts, you shoot a low number.”
Q. Are the South African players very competitive amongst themselves? Do you look at the leaderboard to see what they are doing?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, I don’t think so. I think, you know, we are a big sporting nation, so you know, we are always going to be competitive starting a tournament. But it’s a good rivalry, and you know, I think each of us wants the other guy to do really well. I see here Ernie is going along nicely, which is great. It’s always great seeing him play well, and it will be nice to see him up the leaderboard there.
Q. Is it a bit like a team situation? In the old days, the South Africans used to gather together quite a lot and have their dinners together.
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I think we still do. I think it’s a nation thing; I think the Australians like to eat together; I think the Americans go to dinner and the South Africans do, as well. It’s probably the guys you know, every week you play with them, and I mean, we are a bunch of guys that’s good friends out on Tour. It’s just one of those things where you just go out and have dinner with your countrymen, yeah.
Q. Forgive me if you’ve already answered this because I just came in, but I wanted to ask what is it ‑‑ you’ve played the par 5s here extremely well and I wonder what it is about those holes in particular that so suits your game so well, and if there’s even a possibility of a repeat of the double‑eagle that you had earlier this year.
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, the par 5s, I think I can reach all of them, which, you know, makes it easy; if you’re hitting it well just get yourself around the green. And you know, I really didn’t make a lot of eagle putts; I just was really close to the green, which led to getting up‑and‑down and I hit really good chips on a few today for some tap‑ins for birdie.
“So you get those days where if you hit it well, you leave yourself in a decent spot for a chip‑and‑putt for a birdie on the par 5s. 15 today was a tough hole. The second shot was a bit into the wind and went in there with 5‑wood to hit the bunker front right and hit a really long bunker shot to eight‑foot and made a good putt.
“So there was one or two par 5s that I really made good birdies where it looked like making a five.
“The double‑eagle you’re talking about was probably the highlight of the year still, and it was just a perfect shot and I’ll always remember it.
Q. The momentum after the 7th hole for eagle, you made four consecutive birdies from 8, 9, 10 and 11. Can you take us through these couple of holes?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yes, the eagle was a long eagle putt I made. Then on the par 3, also had like probably a 25‑footer which I made for birdie. And 9 was a par 5 again where I just hit it short in the trap and hit a really good chip to about probably a foot. At 10, I made another nice putt, probably another 20, 25‑foot putt I made on 10.
11, the par 5, I hit my tee shot in the trap on the left, and then I hit a good shot to probably ten yards short of the green on the right, and then I made a good chip again to probably a foot and a half.
Q. The magic number, 59, do you think there is a 59 out there after your two days of experience on the Olazábal Course?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, I think 59 is something that when the day comes, it just happens. I’ll be very surprised if I shoot 59 this week. I’ve just been playing really, really solid to shoot low numbers. You know, 59, you need everything to go in; you need everything to go right.
So, you know, it’s going to be a great round to do it. But that’s not even close to my thoughts. My thoughts are just playing the golf that I am at the moment and giving myself a lot of birdie opportunities and to see if I can make a few.
Q. Do you think that at 36 holes with a five‑shot lead is very similar to your Open Championship situation?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Well, scoreboard‑wise, it’s probably the same. I think there’s a really good ‑‑ looking at the leaderboard, there’s so many great players up there. Like I said, it’s far from over. It was probably the same at The Open.
With this tournament, I’m in a great position to win it, but it’s not even crossed my mind
