The Oosthuizen show

IT was a sobering experience for South African Louis Oosthuizen, as he not only avenged his Agusta defeat, but also pocketed a cool US$416,660 with came with his winning score of 17 under 271 in the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday.
There was never a doubt that he is going to slip, or that there will be a play-off to determine the winner, as the South African was fully focused at the task at hand.
Scotsman Stephen Gallacher carded a battling 70 for second place while American David Lipsky, winner of the Cambodian Classic last month, finished joint third and two shots back after a 70 alongside Danny Willett of England (71) and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello (71).
Former Asian Tour number ones Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa of India were the best placed Asians in tied 11th place in the US$2.5 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
"It was important for me to come here and put up a good fight after last week. Last week was tough and that kind of a result always takes abit out of you," said Oosthuizen.
And having his family along was just the right tonic he needed to overcome a 30-hour flight jet-lag.
"Having the family here this week was unbelievable. They were meant to fly to South Africa from Augusta but my wife said she she wanted to come here even though she knew she was in for a tough one with the kids!
"But it was just great, it always is. It is always nice to have your little girl waiting on you when you come off the 18th to give you a hug. And it doesn't matter if you have played good or bad, she just wants that hug," said Oosthuizen.
His wake-up call was when he missed a short putt for par on the sixth: "I kind of woke up again and refocused and started to make better shots and played really well on the back-nine."
Oosthuizen, who received the Seagram Trophy from Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak and also the champion’s navy blue jacket, said: “It would have been better if I had the green jacket (laughter) but I’m a little bit surprise because I thought I would be tired. I played well and the game was there so it made it a lot easier. I had a good week.”
A distant four shots behind was Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, who was never really a worrying factor for the leader in the back nine chase.
"I'm pleased with myself, as I only had a couple of bogies this the week and even threw in a shot as well which wasn't there!," said Gallacher who signed for the wrong score in the morning third round, with a 69 when he had a 68 and it stood.
He paid tribute to the phenomenal show from the South African.
"It was a super show from Oosthuizen considering what he went through last week. I thought he might get tired today and obviously he isn't. He is a fit guy and fair play to him."

Maybank Malaysian Open final scores

271 Louis Oosthuizen (SA) 66-68-69-68.
274 Stephen Gallacher (Scot) 67-68-69-70.
276 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Sp) 67-72-66-71, Danny Willett (Eng) 69-69-67-71, David Lipsky (US) 70-67-69-70.
277 Charl Schwartzel (SA) 64-75-70-68.
279 Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70-72-68-69, Martin Kymer (Ger) 70-67-71-71, Romain Wattel (Fra) 68-68-72-71, Hennie Otto (SA) 71-64-72-72.
280 Scott Hend (Aus) 70-71-73-66, Victor Dubisson (Fra) 72-68-69-71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 65-73-70-72, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 66-72-68-74, Jbe Kruger (SA) 70-65-77-68.
281 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68-72-71-70, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 73-69-71-68, Ben Fox (US) 70-68-70-73, Mo Joong-kyung (S Kor) 71-71-70-69.
282 Joost Luitten (Ned) 72-69-73-68, Chapchai Nirat (Thai) 71-73-69-69, Antonio Lascuna (Phil) 67-74-72-69,Julien Quesne (Fra) 69-72-73-68.
283 Prom Meesawat (Thai) 68-75-70-70, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 68-71-66-78, Simon Dyson (Eng) 69-70-70-74, Rhys Davies (Wal) 70-68-72-73, Pablo Larrazabal (SP) 69-73-67-74.
284 Alvaro Quiros (SP) 72-68-73-71, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 72-68-73-71, Lian Wen-chong (Ch) 72-68-70-74, Marcel Siem (Ger) 69-73-70-72.
285 Berry Hendson (US) 72-72-70-71, Mardan Mmat (Sing) 73-71-70-71, Steve Webster (Eng) 73-70-69-73, Scott Barr (Aus) 73-70-70-72, Richard Green (Aus) 69-74-71-71, David Howell (Eng) 71-71-75-68, Gary Boyd (Eng) 75-67-68-75.
286 Joonas Granberg (Fin) 68-73-71-74, David Drysdale (Scot) 72-69-74-71, Daisuke Kataoka (Jpn) 70-71-72-73, Branden Grace (SA) 69-72-72-73, Panuphol Pittayarat (Thai) 69-74-73-70, Tom Lewis (Eng) 70-70-72-74, Gaurav GHEI (Ind) 68-74-73-71.
287 Jason Knutzon (US) 66-75-71-75, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 75-69-74-69, Marcus Both (Aus) 72-72-73-70, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 71-73-74-69, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 69-71-74-73.
288 Siddikur Rahman (Bang) 72-71-73-72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72-71-75-70, Simon Khan (Eng) 72-71-73-72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69-72-72-75.
289 Peter Karmis (SA) 72-70-74-73.
290 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73-71-75-71, Stephen Lewton (Eng) 70-71-77-72, Anthony Kang (US) 69-75-76-70, Prayad Marksaeng (Thai) 73-70-69-78, Shaaban Hussin (Mas) 70-72-75-73.
291 Thanyakon Khrongpha (Thai) 73-68-72-78.
292 Michael Campbell (NZ) 72-71-71-78, Zaw Moe (Myan) 72-71-74-75, Alastair Forsyth (Scot) 71-72-70-79.
293 Lee Sung (S Kor) 69-75-75-74, Zhang Lian-wei (Ch) 70-74-72-77, Richard McEvoy (Eng) 72-71-75-75.
294 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Thai) 76-68-72-78.
295 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71-69-80-75.
296 Keith Horne (SA) 72-72-78-74.
311 Ignacio Garrido (SP) 71-70-81-89.

Indian stars Jyothi and Jeev shine

INDIA stars Jyothi Rahdhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh ended jointh-11th, salvaging some Asian pride in the Maybank Malaysian Open.
Jyothi had a final round of two-over 74 for an eight-under 280 total, while Jeev played par golf yesterday.
"At least I hung in there for quite a bit. I just had two bad shots really. I hit my second shot on the 13th hole and it got plugged (double bogey). I had another bad tee shot on the 14th hole (triple bogey).
"If you take those shots away then I would have finished higher. At least I know why those bad shots came because the old swing came in. I birdied after those shots so that was a good comeback," said Jyothi.
"All in all I think I’m feeling good. I just need to give it a little bit more time. I guess I’m on the right track. After this week, I’m feeling even more confident with a top-10 finish. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.
"I’ll just try to do the best that I can and focus on the process and routine. If I can keep doing that then I think I can play well.
"Just when I needed a few shots to go straight and when I needed a few birdie putts, it (swing) just didn’t work for me because of anxiety. When something is new it just doesn’t work under pressure but I know what I need to do so hopefully one day I can hold it under pressure.
It has been a while since Jyothi came into a competition under stress.
"I hope I can hang in there and don’t do the bad swings. I feel very nice the way I swung this week. I feel very nice that it is all coming together. I just had two bad swings so I’m feeling positive for next week.
"It is a great golf course. I think it is a ball strikers’ golf course and the greens are fast. You got to hit the ball long way so I’m looking forward to it," said Jyothi.
As for Jeev: "I had a great start today (yesterday). I think I got ahead of myself and gave a few shots away. I thought I got really unlucky on 16, I hit a great shot in there but it rolled into the water. That set me back and I shot even par. But I tried you know. It is the first top-10 of the year and hopefully it gets better from here."

Shaaban almost in tears

SHAABAN Hussin, 32, was close to tears after he could not muster the physical side of his game to make an impact in the final round of the Malaysian Open.
The lanky Malaysian ended joint 57th, after a final round of one-over 73 for a total of two-over 290.
He won a purse of US$7250, but that was besides the point: "I was close to tears after finishing my round, as I felt that I was a letdown as the sole Malaysian in the Malaysian Open. Also, it was my best chance to get more money and improve my Asian Tour rankings."
And what was the reason?
"My physical side of the game was not good in the last two rounds, and I have been suffering this syndrome in the last three tournaments as well.
"I was a regular gym-goer, but could not have regular sessions for the last month, as I was traveling most of the time," said Shaaban.
He was in Cambodia, then Perak followed by Singapore and finally the Malaysian Open -- and it took a toll on his gym schedule.
"I did well in the first two rounds of all the tournaments, only to lose out in the last two rounds because of fatigue. That is one area I will have to work on further," said the player who will play in the Indonesian Masters at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club from Thursday.
In the Cambodian Open he finished tied-22 (69-69-71-72), and then in the Perak PGM-Clearwater Classic, he lost a two-hole sudden-death playoff against R, Nachimuthu.
His Singapore Open outing last week was much better, as he finished joint 13th (66-65-72).
"The confidence was there going into the Malaysian Open, as I was doing well in the earlier tournaments. But my drive killed me off, as I was only hitting five to six greens in the last two rounds and had to scramble to save my game most of the time," said Shaaban.
He had three bogies on the first, third and 14th. The birdies which counted were on the fourth and fifth.
Shaaban also lamented on the fact that there are a few Malaysian players who do not take up their Asian Tour spots because they prefer to play on the local tour.
"They have a mind-set that it is easier to win money on the local tours. I know that I can earn easily RM10,000 in one leg of the local tour, but how long can I continue to play at home? The competition on the Asian Tour is is tougher, but it gave me experience to play much better."

Indian keeper D’Souza tested positive

The Asian Age

Indian hockey goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza has tested positive for a banned substance in a random test conducted by the National Anti-Doping agency during the recent World Series Hockey tournament.
D’Souza, who skippered the Mumbai Marines team in the inaugural league, was tested along with 11 others during the tournament.
And even though Nada “remained firm” that the player’s identity could not be made public, an ambiguous mail made its way to the media on Thursday night, naming D’Souza.
And given the 27-year old’s runs-in with authority over the last year or so, it wasn’t hard to guess the source of the leaked news.
“As many as 12 samples were collected during the World Series Hockey, and 10 results have come so far. One of them has tested positive for tetrahydro-cannabinol, a metabolite of marijuana, and notices have been sent to the athlete, the respective federations, and the organisers,” Nada director general Rahul Bhatnagar said.
“As cannabinol is a specified substance, there will be no provisional suspension imposed on the athlete. He can participate in tournaments during the hearings and if a ban is imposed, it would be from the date of sample collection and whatever medals or cash prizes he had won during that period, he will have to forfeit them.”
Dr P.S.M. Chandran, chief medical officer for WSH, said he was not a position to comment.
he Nada letter sent to D’Souza mentions a sample collected on March 21, containing “higher concentration of tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC), a metabolite of marijuana”.
D’Souza, can ask for a ‘B’ sample test within seven days time from the date of receipt of the order.

Oosthuizen in charge

Kuala Lumpur, April 15: Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa is 18 holes away from winning the Maybank Malaysian Open after shooting a third round three-under-par 69 on Sunday.
Oosthuizen, who is on a mission of erasing his play-off defeat at the Masters last week, returned this morning to complete eight holes and take a one-shot lead over Stephen Gallacher of Scotland at the US$2.5 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain, Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina and Danny Willet of England trail Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion by two shots at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Asian Tour rookie David Lipsky of the United States, winner of the HANDA FALDO Cambodian Classic last month, and Indian star Jyoti Randhawa, a former Asian Tour number one in 2002, are tied in sixth place on 206, three shots from the leader.
Round 4 is currently in progress with the leading flight teeing off at 10.20am.
Scores after round 3 of the Maybank Malaysian Open 2012 being played at the par 72, 6967 Yards Kuala Lumpur GcC course (a- denotes amateur):
203 - Louis OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) 66-68-69.
204 - Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 67-68-69.
205 - Rafael CABRERA-BELLO (ESP) 67-72-66, Ricardo GONZALEZ (ARG) 68-71-66, Danny WILLETT (ENG) 69-69-67.
206 - Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 66-72-68, David LIPSKY (USA) 70-67-69.
207 - Hennie OTTO (RSA) 71-64-72.
208 - Ben FOX (USA) 70-68-70, Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 65-73-70, Martin KAYMER (GER) 70-67-71, Romain WATTEL (FRA) 68-68-72.
209 - Victor DUBUISSON (FRA) 72-68-69, Charl SCHWARTZEL (RSA) 64-75-70, Simon DYSON (ENG) 69-70-70, Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP) 69-73-67.
210 - LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) 72-68-70, Matteo MANASSERO (ITA) 70-72-68, Rhys DAVIES (WAL) 70-68-72, Gary BOYD (ENG) 75-67-68.
211 - Soren KJELDSEN (DEN) 68-72-71.