SAN DIEGO – Louis Oosthuizen was the bridesmaid yet again.
The South African, who began the final round as one of three co-leaders, shot even-par 71 at Torrey Pines’ South Course to finish at 5-under 279, one stroke behind winner Jon Rahm at the 121st U.S. Open. It was his sixth runner-up in a major since winning the 2010 British Open nearly 11 years ago, and second straight having finished two strokes behind Phil Mickelson last month at the PGA Championship.
“Look, it’s frustrating. It’s disappointing. I’m playing good golf, but it’s not – winning a major is not just going to happen. You need to go out and play good golf,” he said. “I played good today, but I didn’t play good enough.”
The 38-year-old Oosthuizen opened with rounds of 67-71-70 and canned a 30-foot eagle at 18 on Saturday to share the 54-hole lead. A bogey at the fifth hole on Sunday dropped him out of the lead, but Oosthuizen never panicked.
“This golf course, there’s a lot of things that can go sideways quickly,” he said. “So, you need to keep focus and play well, and be calm.”
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Birdies at Nos. 9 and 10 built a two-stroke lead for Oosthuizen, but that would be his last circle on the card until it was too late. He made a bogey at No. 11 and poured in clutch par putts at Nos. 12 and 13 as Rahm emerged as his chief competitor. His birdie-birdie finish wrapped up a 4-under 67 and the clubhouse lead at 6-under.
Oosthuizen’s fate was sealed at the par-4 17th when the fader of the ball pulled his tee shot into the canyon and had to take a penalty stroke, leading to a bogey.
Louis Oosthuizen reacts after yelling fore on his tee shot from the 14th tee during the final round of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
“I knew it was a crucial hole for me to take it on and give myself a birdie opportunity. I didn’t pull it off, but standing on that tee again, I’ll probably do the same thing, taking a driver and taking the shot on,” he said. “I feel like I had my shots, I went for it, and that’s what you have to do to win majors. Sometimes it goes your way, and other times it doesn’t.”
Falling to 4 under meant Oosthuizen needed an eagle at 18 to tie Rahm and his tee shot nestled in the right rough, forcing a layup and a hole out to tie. Oosthuizen made birdie, but it wasn’t enough to stall the engraving of Rahm’s name on the U.S. Open trophy.
“I played good. Just fell a little short again,” Oosthuizen said. “It was Jon played a great round of golf, 4-under today on that golf course is a really good score. I could see early on what was happening with the leaderboard at the end and knew that I need to push at the end to do something.”
