The South African entered round four at Heritage La Réserve Golf Club with a one-shot lead but soon saw that disappear as playing partner Jacques P de Villiers, England’s Laurie Canter and the charging Sebastian Söderberg all staked a claim.

.@Louis57TM wins back-to-back events for the first time in his career ?#AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen pic.twitter.com/IdswcFcXUq

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 17, 2023

It was nip and tuck over a dramatic back nine in the Indian Ocean but in the end Oosthuizen’s 69 was enough to hand him a two-shot victory over Canter at 17 under.

South African de Villiers, Swede Söderberg – who carded the lowest round of the day with a 63 – and England’s Daniel Brown finished at 14 under, one clear of South Africa’s Jayden Schaper.

Oosthuizen’s victory also saw Min Woo Lee crowned the winner of the Opening Swing, handing the Australian US$200,000 and a place in the second part of the DP World Tour season – the Back 9.

The triumph at the weather-delayed Alfred Dunhill Championship last time out was Oosthuizen’s first for five years but he now has two in six days, with this week’s coming over a course he co-designed with Peter Matkovich.

“Golf is the strangest thing,” he said. “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, this is very special.”

Both Oosthuizen and De Villiers dropped shots after missing the green at the fourth and there was a two-shot swing on the par-five next as Oosthuizen needed a drop off the tee and De Villiers got up and down for birdie.

Canter had made a two-putt birdie on the par five and he followed it with another gain from eight feet on the driveable sixth but De Villiers made an excellent up-and-down after finding a tricky spot off the tee on the same hole to lead alone.

Oosthuizen also took advantage of the short par four despite finding sand off the tee, with an excellent pitch at the par-five eighth helping him move back into a share of top spot.

The 41-year-old then holed a very long putt at the tenth to lead alone and both he and De Villiers made two-putt birdies on the par-five 12th before the latter got back into a share following a brilliant second after missing the green at the driveable par-four 13th.

Canter had done well to save par after missing the green at the ninth and tenth and he kept himself right in the mix, making two putts from the fringe on the 12th and driving the 13th to be just one shot back.

De Villiers joined him at 15 under after a three-putt on the 15th and Oosthuizen was two ahead when a beautiful pitch on the same hole spun back to tap-in range.

The lead was cut to one after a ragged Oosthuizen tee-shot and second at the 16th and De Villiers’ chance was gone after missing the green at the par-three 17th.

Canter could not take advantage of the par-five 18th as he signed for a bogey-free 68 to hand Oosthuizen a one-shot lead coming down the last and a two-putt birdie extended the winning margin, with De Villiers making par for a 71.

Söderberg twice held the lead and set the clubhouse target earlier in the day before the later groups edged clear, recovering from an opening bogey with ten birdies as he came home in 29.

Brown was bogey-free in his 65, making birdies on the fifth, seventh, 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th and last.

Schaper sandwiched five birdies with bogeys on the fourth and 17th in his 69 to finish a shot ahead of countrymen Thomas Aiken, Lyle Rowe and Darren Fichardt and two clear of American John Catlin.

Image: DP World Tour X / Twitter

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They stood on the podium 13 months ago, a team of four South Africans, feeling pure joy but not quite 100% sure how to celebrate.

Charl Schwartzel had a champagne bottle in his hands and was ready to pop it open. Only one problem: He didn’t know the best method to shake it in order to maximize the spray.

“I had never really done that, so that was new to try to figure that out,” he said this week, laughing at the memory. “It was just new to golf. We’d never seen that. You see that in Formula 1 where they get podium finishes, and all of a sudden this is what LIV Golf has done.”

LIV Golf launched its beta-test Invitational Series at Centurion Club in June of 2022, a week worthy of its disruptive approach to traditional golf. Individuals also competed in teams, and the final result after 54 holes centred entirely on the fun-loving Saffas. Stinger GC won the team title by a resounding 14 strokes, which remains the largest winning margin in LIV Golf’s young history. Schwartzel won the individual title. Teammate Hennie du Plessis finished an unexpected second. And teammate Branden Grace took third. It was, in their words, a “fairy-tale start,” this sweep of the individual podium.

And it hasn’t been done since. Perhaps never will.

Entering this week’s return to LIV Golf London, 14 regular-season events have been played since the Stinger sweep. The only time members of the same team appeared on the individual podium happened last year in Jeddah when Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka beat then-teammate Peter Uihlein on the third playoff hole, giving Smash a 1-2 finish. In every other event, the individual podium has been filled with players from three different teams.

“I don’t think you can ever say ‘never see it again,’ but it was certainly a surprise to see the three Stingers up there on the podium,” said Majesticks GC co-captain Lee Westwood. “They were clearly going to win the team event that week.”

Since then, the quality of LIV Golf tournament fields has improved tremendously. Before the next event in Portland, major champions Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed joined LIV Golf, as did several other highly-ranked players. More major champions followed in the ensuing weeks, including Henrik Stenson and reigning Open champion Cameron Smith. Veteran players with winning credentials lifted the back end of rosters.

More than half of the LIV Golf lineup has been turned over since the debut London event, with just 23 players returning to Centurion Club this week. The 25 new players have combined to win 223 professional events across the globe. That increased depth spread across the 12 teams makes it more difficult to pull off the individual sweep.

“Obviously the depth of field has changed a huge amount in the last 12 months,” said original LIV golfer Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champ. “I think the major championship performances that we’ve seen from our players this year prove that we still have a lot of world-class players in this field. … Strength of field is incredible, and it really is difficult to get on the podium with these teams and with these guys because the standard of golf has been way better than I ever expected.”

“Everything is just getting stronger and better,” added Grace. “The teams are stronger now. There are hopefully more guys coming to make it even stronger. To finish 1-2-3 I don’t think is going to happen pretty soon, if ever, again.”

Even so, some teams certainly have improved their own depth, theoretically giving them a better chance to sweep the podium.

Consider RangeGoats GC. With Bubba Watson returning from knee surgery, Talor Gooch transferring from the 4Aces and Thomas Pieters joining in the offseason, the Goats have an upgraded roster in 2023 to go with holdover Harold Varner III. Not only do they enter London with five consecutive podium team finishes, they’re the only team with two different individual winners – Gooch with three wins, and Varner with one.

Or consider Crushers GC. Captain Bryson DeChambeau surrounded himself with veteran talent while working hard to return to his own lofty standards. This season, Charles Howell III won in Mayakoba, Anirban Lahiri finished second in Adelaide, and DeChambeau was runner-up last week in Andalucía. That’s three different podium finishes – just not in the same tournament.

Or consider 4Aces GC, the only other team to have three different players finishing on the podium this season. Captain Dustin Johnson won in Tulsa, transfer Peter Uihlein finished second in Mayakoba and Patrick Reed took third in Adelaide.

And certainly, you must consider Torque GC, the only team with multiple victories this season. Torque hasn’t had an individual winner, but Sebastian Munoz finished second in Orlando and Mito Pereira took third in Andalucía. Captain Joaquin Niemann is a threat each time out, and 21-year-old David Puig has produced his two best LIV Golf results in his last two starts.

“Torque has done a great job,” said Majesticks co-captain Ian Poulter. “RangeGoats obviously transitioning to get Talor Gooch was clearly a very good idea. He’s been pretty impressive. DJ and Brooks and — there are so many good, solid teams. … There is strength and depth between all of the teams, and it’s impressive to see. It’s good for the fans, as well, to see not the same team winning every single week.”

Last week after Torque won its third team title, Niemann was asked about the potential of a podium sweep by his team. He originally thought the question concerned the end-of-season Individual Champion race, not even fathoming a single-tournament sweep. Upon getting clarification, Niemann’s eyes lit up. “That would be sweet.”

Added teammate Sebastian Munoz: “We definitely take it as a challenge. We’re motivated to get there, as well.”

Thus far, it’s only been done once. And not even the winning podium lineup from 2022 is the same for the Stingers. Dean Burmester is the new face in place of du Plessis, and he already has a podium result, a third in Orlando, to go with Grace’s three podium finishes this year.

The Stingers enter this week with good vibes and good memories. Schwartzel is well-versed in champagne celebrations, and his team would love nothing more than a repeat performance. It won’t be easy.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’ll see it again,” Schwartzel said. “I suppose you never say never, but it was an awesome week for everybody and just happened to have the same team, same guys play really well. I guess we got lucky that week, and we had a great time. We’ll always keep trying to do that, but I’m not sure if it’ll happen.”

Oosthuizen, the odd man out on the individual podium, recalled thinking last year as he sprayed his teammates with champagne, “I don’t know how we’re going to ever top this.”

This week, he’ll gladly settle for simply matching it.

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