Oosthuizen boost for Iskandar

Louis Oosthuizen (© Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Johor Bahru: Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen has confirmed his participation at the Iskandar Johor Open 2011 at the Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club, adding even more quality to an already star-studded field.

Oosthuizen, 29, will be among the top players vying for the title at the US$2 million championship scheduled from November 17 to 20 alongside defending champion, Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim, Colin Montgomerie, Henrik Stenson and Thongchai Jaidee.

Having appeared in the Maybank Malaysian Open in April, the Iskandar Johor Open will be the South African’s second start in Malaysia this year. With Oosthuizen showing such good form in the last few weeks, he should be arriving in Johor in good spirits and confident of winning the title.

“I’m really looking forward to play in Johor this month against some of the world’s best players,” said Oosthuizen. “It is nice that I’m coming into form at the right time for the year-end swing. I’m eager to play well, and hopefully give the players a run for their money. Most importantly, I’d like to have a good time.”

Oosthuizen, who splits his playing schedule between the European and the PGA Tours, had a flying start to the year winning the African Open on the European Tour in January. After some quiet months following that victory, his form picked up in October when he finished fifth at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour, and fourth at The McGladrey Classic on the PGA Tour.

He continued his fine performance at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last week, shooting a 63 and a 68 in the second and third rounds respectively before closing with a 72 for a share of seventh place on 14-under-par 274.

Besides Oosthuizen, the organizer has also confirmed the participation of four-time European Tour winner, Ross Fisher from England.

The Iskandar Johor Open 2011 will boast a field of 156 players consisting of 67 players each from the Asian and European Tours, eight invites, eight national qualifiers and six international qualifiers, all vying for the top purse of US$317,000 (approximately RM954, 000).