OOSTHUIZEN PIPS JAMIESON BY ONE SHOT WITH A CLOSING 66

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Louis Oosthuizen overhauled Scott Jamieson on with a brilliant final round 66 to win the Volvo Golf Champions.
The 29 year old Jamieson just missed out on earning his second win in Durban in six weeks when home star Oosthuizen came from five shots back.
The 2010 Open Champion’s joint best-of-the-day 66 at Durban Country Club gave him the €350,000 first prize by one shot - his sixth European Tour title and one that elevates him to a career-high fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Jamieson, who was looking to add the trophy to his Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa win at Royal Durban last month, almost forced a play-off, but his chip for eagle on the 273 yard last stopped two inches from the hole.
Instead he became the first player since Hennie Otto five years ago to lose a European Tour event from five clear with a round to go.
Jamieson still held that advantage after picking up shots at the third and fourth, but double-bogeyed the next after driving into the bushes and did not have another birdie until the 18th.
"Louis's a Major Champion - there's no shame in losing to him," said the World Number 100. "I gave it my all, but it wasn't to be."
He can content himself with the fact that he has started the season first, third and second, and is the early front-runner in The Race to Dubai.
"I'll take that - absolutely," he added.
"The double bogey was a kick in the stones, to put it politely, but I had tons of chances and couldn't take them."
Jamieson will move up to around 70th in the new ranking on Monday - a personal best for him too - and if he can make it into the top 50 by the end of March there will be the reward of a Masters Tournament debut.
That has been his dream ever since he was a student at Augusta State University and was allowed to play the world famous course once a year.
Oosthuizen lost a play-off to Bubba Watson there last April, of course, and in his last eight starts has had seven top-ten finishes to push Justin Rose down to fifth in the world.
"It was a great week - a lot of things happened," said the 30 year old, who on Friday won a new excavator for his farm when he was part of the winning team in the day's pro-am format.
He followed that 64 with a 74, but was back to his best with six birdies in the first 11 holes today.
Another came when he two-putted from just over the green of the long 14th, but from two in front he missed a three foot par putt on the 16th.
When Jamieson came to the hole, however, he pushed his approach into a plugged lie in the bunker and took five as well.
The closing birdie for a 15 under par total of 273 merely moved him out of a tie for second with Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, while Ireland's Padraig Harrington shot 68 to climb to fourth in the 33-man winners-only field. He and most of the others now move on to Abu Dhabi, where world top two Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods play for the first time in 2013 - McIlroy with new clubs.

SCOTSWATCH
Three Scots in the top 10 finishers is a rare enough event at the best of time but for it to happen a winners-only select field merits some
celebration North of the Border.
Jamieson won 226,300 Euros and Aberdonians Paul Lawrie (joint seventh) and Richie Ramsay (joint ninth) earned 66,400 and 45.457 Euros apiece respectively.   


FINAL TOTALS

Pos	Name	To Par	Hole	Today	1	2	3	4	Total
1	OOSTHUIZEN, Louis	-16	18	-6	68	64	74	66	272
2	JAMIESON, Scott	-15	18	Par	69	64	68	72	273
3	JAIDEE, Thongchai	-14	18	-4	65	68	73	68	274
4	HARRINGTON, Padraig	-12	18	-4	70	71	67	68	276
T5	WILLETT, Danny	-11	18	-4	69	70	70	68	277
T5	QUESNE, Julien	-11	18	-1	72	67	67	71	277
T7	GRACE, Branden	-10	18	-5	75	67	69	67	278
T7	LAWRIE, Paul	-10	18	-3	69	70	70	69	278
T9	RAMSAY, Richie	-9	18	-5	69	73	70	67	279
T9	BJÖRN, Thomas	-9	18	-4	69	70	72	68	279
T9	COLSAERTS, Nicolas	-9	18	-4	73	67	71	68	279
T9	CABRERA-BELLO, Rafa	-9	18	-4	72	69	70	68	279
T9	LOWRY, Shane	-9	18	-2	70	69	70	70	279
T9	MANASSERO, Matteo	-9	18	-3	75	69	66	69	279
T9	MOLINARI, Francesco	-9	18	-1	70	70	68	71	279
T16	DONALDSON, Jamie	-8	18	-6	69	72	73	66	280
T16	SINGH, Jeev Milkha	-8	18	-3	69	70	72	69	280
T18	CASEY, Paul	-7	18	-3	74	69	69	69	281
T18	ELS, Ernie	-7	18	-2	68	72	71	70	281
T20	FDEZ-CASTAÑO, Gonzalo	-6	18	-4	75	70	69	68	282
T20	GOOSEN, Retief	-6	18	-2	72	70	70	70	282
T22	CLARKE, Darren	-5	18	-3	75	68	71	69	283
T22	STENSON, Henrik	-5	18	-1	72	70	70	71	283
24	ROCK, Robert	-4	18	-2	70	74	70	70	284
25	HOEY, Michael	-3	18	+1	72	74	66	73	285
26	SIEM, Marcel	-2	18	-6	74	74	72	66	286
27	WIESBERGER, Bernd	Par	18	-4	76	71	73	68	288
28	SANTOS, Ricardo	+1	18	Par	76	76	65	72	289
T29	FICHARDT, Darren	+2	18	-5	78	70	75	67	290
	MONTGOMERIE, Colin	+2	18	-2	72	78	70	70	290
	OLESEN, Thorbjørn	+4	18	-1	75	72	74	71	292
	KRUGER, Jbe	+5	18	+3	75	73	70	75	293
	OLAZÁBAL, José María	+5	18	+3	74	72	72	75	293