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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 13, 2017

Louis Oosthuizen

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Louis Oosthuizen, thanks for joining us, 1-over par-72, one off the lead, tied for third heading into the final round. Before we get into some questions, just want to get some comments from you about today's round. Specifically, your nice par save on 18, you slid that first putt from off the green past, but great save. I'm sure that will make tonight's dinner much better.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, that was probably the highlight of the day for me, just that one. I think there was only one highlight, and it was that one. Yeah, I struggled today. I didn't hit it great. A few things were behind it, I probably tried too much in the windy conditions and missed loads of fairways in the early stages of the game. With all that, you know, being one off the lead, I'm very happy going into tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: And there were some very high scores out there today, so 1-over in retrospect isn't a bad position, and you're one off the lead heading into the final round.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, you know, it was one of those rounds that it can get away from you quickly, especially the way the wind was blowing and greens firming up a little. You know, happy with just going 1-over par. Like I say, I hit a few horrible shots and recovered on a few occasions, and other than that, just really two-putting from long distances to make pars. Very happy with 1-over today the way I played.

Q. Louis, as Joel just pointed out, there was a lot of bad out there that happened and some good. There were guys making 9s on holes, the wind swirling. What kind of pressure is there to hold yourself together when you can hit good shots and get good results, but you can also hit pretty good shots or marginal shots and get really bad results?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, that's where I think just being patient out on the golf course, especially a day like today. I sort of knew that going into the round, that if I'm not going to be spot on, I need to stay calm and just fight the whole way around. You know, I think it's difficult to do sometimes when everything is really going against you and you're making awful numbers, but I just -- sort of just hung in there the whole way around.

Q. I know you said it was a grind today, but a couple of highlights. Can you talk through the second shot on 11? Looks like it was a percentage shot, hit a great shot. And then secondly, the side-hill chip that you hit on 14, as well.
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, you know, that 5-wood, I use it a lot around this golf course. It's actually great out of the rough. It comes out very nice. I was luckily far enough left and far enough back on 11 to go that route. I had a nice big gap on the left side. To me, I felt I could get the contact on it, and laying up down the right, I knew it was an awkward little third shot into that wind, and I just, you know, thought that it wasn't that much risk going down the left the way I hit that club out of the rough.

Yeah, the chip on 14 was -- it was just a nice sort of lie for just a back-foot 54-degree and just scoop it up there, you know, the low-checky one and ended up chipping to two foot, I think.

Q. Because things can change so quickly on the back nine here in the final holes, do you look at leaderboards more or do you do anything differently than at another golf course where it might not be as volatile at the end?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I always look at leaderboards. I like to know what's going on. It doesn't bother me knowing I'm two off or leading by two. I just like to know what's going on.

Around this golf course, 16, 17, 18, anything can happen. No lead can be big enough. You can be three back and you can win the event. That's what makes this golf course great. We've seen over the years great finishes around this golf course and horrible finishes by players. You know, it's a great finishing three holes, and you need to be on your game. You need to hit the ball well and just try and give yourself good -- try not to do anything heroic, I think, when you have a lead.

But saying that, you know that the guys can make eagle on 16 and they can hit it really close on 17. So it's a great three holes to finish a tournament with.

Q. Have you ever put any pressure on yourself to have that follow-up hit to the Open? Do you think about that a lot, say, I've got to win one more big one, you had the chance at the Masters and everything, but do you dwell on that a whole lot or do you just play golf and see what happens?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, I think everyone that's won one, you want to try and win a second, and if you won two, you want to probably try and win a third. That's just what we play for is trying to win in majors and world events and big events like THE PLAYERS. So you know, that's where you test yourself because you're playing against the top in the world, and playing major championships, there's nothing like it, learning about yourself, what you go through if you're leading or if you're not playing great, and you get tested at a major championship because there's so much more at stake.

You know, I would love to win a few more. I've come close a few times. But I don't really dwell on that. I just -- every time I go into a major, I try and play the best that week.

Q. I was once told that you come from a very windy part of South Africa. Did that help you today? First of all, is that true? And secondly, do you like playing in a wind, and do you regard yourself as a good wind player?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yes, it is windy where I group up. Mossel Bay Golf Club is where I played most of my golf, really windy there. Didn't look like it helped me the way I played today, but it's definitely -- I enjoy playing in wind. I think there comes a point where the wind blows so hard that, you know, it might help you, but it's just so hard that it's tough to still hit great shots.

But yeah, I do enjoy playing windy golf, and I think that's why I love playing Open Championships.

Q. Well over half the field recorded at least one double bogey on their card. Was the wind absolutely the reason for that do you think, or was it a combination of the greens, pin placements? What for you was the toughest part of today?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It was definitely the wind, greens are firm, controlling the ball flight today was tough. I mean, if you didn't hit fairways, you're already struggling out of this rough, and then you -- I don't even know how strong the wind was today. It was probably up to 20 miles an hour, I guess, or maybe more in some stages. But then you still need to think about all that and hitting a second shot into a green. A lot of things around this golf course can have an effect, and you need to be spot-on on your game around this place to play really well.

Q. North-northwest wind tomorrow. Is that a little bit rare for May around here, and does that make some of the harder holes easier and some of the easier holes harder?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It's going to be a complete new wind for us, I think. It was southwest today, southwest yesterday. I can't even remember what it was Thursday. But yeah, that's going to be different. You're going to have holes playing completely the opposite. I think that's going to be exciting. But it's going to change it a little bit. The last two days you're used to sort of what you're hitting off the tees especially, and you know where you hit it, and it's going to be a whole new game then tomorrow.

Q. So 16 is into the wind and 17 and 18 down?
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Southwest today, 17 was pretty straight across, a little help maybe, so that's in off the right on 17, and same on 18, I guess. So yeah, 16 down off the left, that tricky tee shot, and then tricky second shot, as well. I don't think it really matters where the wind is going to blow. Those three holes are going to be tricky, the last three holes of a championship, and just need to try and get myself in a good spot.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Louis Oosthuizen, thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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