INCHEON, South Korea – Midway through his morning foursome match, Louis Oosthuizen was approached by International captain Nick Price.
“He said, ‘What do you think?’” Oosthuizen said. “Early starts are difficult to me, so I said, ‘Whatever you think, I will battle it out if you need me to play 36.’ To have me 100 percent for the next day it may be better to have someone else go in the afternoon, but me and Branden played so well together.”
Oosthuizen and Branden Grace went on to win that match over Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler, 3 and 2. But what Price really needed to know was whether Oosthuizen could play the afternoon fourball session.
Oosthuizen withdrew from the Tour Championship two weeks ago with a strained muscle in his right knee and said the early morning start had re-aggravated the injury.
“When [Price] came around again, I said, ‘I’ll play,’” Oosthuizen said. “I was struggling the last few holes with the leg. It’s definitely cramping up a little bit, but at least it’s not pain.”
The move paid off, with Grace and Oosthuizen becoming the first International team to go 4-0-0 in a single week with their 1-up victory over J.B. Holmes and J.B. Watson in the afternoon session.
