The American Russell Henley and the South African Louis Oosthuizen have taken the cat to water this weekend in the two most important circuits in the world. The former won the Hawaii Open, of the PGA Tour (United States), and the latter won the Volvo Golf Championship in Durban (South Africa), of the European Tour.
Henley, whose most direct rival during the tournament was his compatriot Scott Langley, completed the round with 63 strokes, seven under par. The tournament was played at the Waialae Club in Honolulu.
Although a birdie on hole one for a bogey by his main opponent of the tournament seemed to give him the necessary calm and concentration to face the course with guarantees, it was not until the 9th -on the eighth hole he made a bogey- when Henley picked up his pace and added seven more birdies, five of them in the last shots.
With this victory, Henley pocketed US$990,000 of the US$5,600,000 that the tournament, the second of the PGA Tour season, distributes in prize money.
Eight birdies helped South African Tim Clark climb to second place, despite a bogey on hole 5.
For his part, Oosthuizen made a great comeback against Scott Jamieson of Scotland, who started Sunday with a 5-stroke lead over the South African.
Oosthuizen posted a final round six strokes better (66) than Jamieson’s (72). That half-dozen made him win by one stroke to relegate the Scotsman to second place.
The victory of the South African golfer, 30 years old and sixth on the European Tour, was important because it pushed him up to fourth place in the world ranking, behind the great trio that dominated the sport in 2012 (McIlroy-Tiger-Donald).
Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello, with a final round of 68 strokes, finished in ninth place. The Spaniard opened 2013 with a top-10 finish, while Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño finished 20th and José María Olazábal was in last place due to his 75 strokes on Sunday.
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