25 February 2024 , 20:19
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Louis Oosthuizen may well be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Joaquin Niemann in becoming the second LIV Golf star to earn a major championship invite amid an impressive run of form.
Oosthuizen became one of the marque names to join LIV Golf, but in doing so gave up his playing rights on the PGA Tour. Since then the South African has become one of a number of breakaway league stars to fall down the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), with LIV yet to acquire ranking points for its events.
In a bid to gain some ground in the ranking list - after a fall that saw Oosthuizen outside the top-400 players in the world - the Stinger GC captain has ventured out to the Sunshine Tour, DP World Tour and Asian Tour, and he has not disappointed.
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In the space of two months, Oosthuizen has jumped over 300 spots in the rankings following his trip away from the LIV setup. Returning back to his home country in December, the former Open champion claimed victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
Clearly a man in form, Oosthuizen went back-to-back a week later, after being crowned champion of the Mauritius Open, helping him gain further ground in the rankings. The South African then almost made it three wins in three OWGR-sanctioned events, after finishing second at the Asian Tour's International Series Oman on Sunday.
Alongside 20 other LIV players, Oosthuizen finished three shots behind eventual winner Carlos Ortiz, in another impressive week for the 41-year-old. Despite the recent run, the former PGA Tour star will miss this year's Masters for the first time since 2008 amid his recent loyalties to LIV Golf.
Louis Oosthuizen will miss this year's Masters (Getty Images)The South African however may well feel he has done enough to earn an invite from the powers that be at Augusta National, after fellow LIV star Niemann received the honour after also enjoying an impressive start to the season. “I knew the day would come where I wasn’t able to play a tournament like Augusta," he told Gulf News in Oman this week.
The lack of invite may well be a blessing in disguise for the 41-year-old though, who admitted the sheer length of the iconic Georgia course is now too long for his game. Despite seemingly being at ease with his Masters omission, Oosthuizen did become the latest LIV star to vent his frustrations with the world rankings.
" I think the whole system needs to change completely," he added. " If they don’t want to give us World Ranking points on LIV Golf then they should change the system where they give spots to Majors on each tour around the world or something like that.
"I’m surprised those (OWGR) guys have a lot more experience than me, sitting on boards and doing their things, that I can’t believe there’s no solution to it."
Whilst Oosthuizen's chances of playing the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open look all but over, he will be eligible to compete at this year's Open Championship on the back of his victory at the event in 2010. And he will have the luxury of playing in one of golf's most prestigious events for many more years to come, with his past-champion exemption allowing him to compete until the age of 60.