Louis Oosthuizen claimed successive DP World Tour titles after pipping fellow LIV Golfer Laurie Canter to the post by two shots at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Oosthuizen had already claimed the Alfred Dunhill Championship ahead of fellow South African Charl Schwartzel at Leopard Creek - his first for five years - and the overnight leader at Heritage La Réserve Golf Club was in the prime position to repeat his heroics heading into Sunday.
But that one-shot lead disappeared quickly, and some stunning patches of golf from the likes of Canter, Sebastien Soderberg, and playing partner Jacques P de Villiers threatened to see Oosthuizen miss out on silverware. Soderberg, in particular, was inspired and ended up shooting 63 - with seven birdies on the back nine - to card the lowest round of the day.
The tournament looked as if it would go down to the wire for much of Sunday's latter stages, but Oosthuizen showed his class and composure to reach 17-under and win by two on a course he co-designed with Peter Matkovich.
Canter finished on 15-under days after missing out on a full-time spot on LIV via the Promotions event, while De Villiers, Soderberg, and England's Daniel Brown shared third on 14-under.
Speaking after holing the winning putt, Oosthuizen said: "Golf is the strangest thing. The last five weeks I've not done a lot with golf, I've played a few rounds, and when I got to Leopard Creek I was working on a small little thing. I started hitting it really good - and I know I'm putting well - and then I just carried on with that momentum.
"I started off very poorly, and that errant second shot on 16 made it interesting, but I hit a few good shots coming in... I'm glad I held onto it.
"I'm glad I could pull this off this week, it's sort of a dream come true being able to play a tournament on a golf course you helped design and end up winning it.
"This is the first event my daughters have been to where I won, so this is very special."
.@Louis57TM wins back-to-back events for the first time in his career 🏆#AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen pic.twitter.com/IdswcFcXUqDecember 17, 2023
Despite not playing this week, it was a fine afternoon for Australia's Min Woo Lee as well. A win for Oosthuizen meant Lee was crowned the winner of the DP World Tour's 'Opening Swing' and won $200,000 - including a place in the second part of the DP World Tour season - the 'Back 9'.
The DP World Tour returns on January 11th, 2024 with the inaugural Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek Resort where Rory McIlroy is set to tee it up to kick off his own 2024 campaign.
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