Playing out of the early wave and making his season debut, World No. 8 Louis Oosthuizen smoothed a bogey-free 6-under-par 32-33=65 in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Open, currently T7 and two back of clubhouse leader Sungjae Im.
Oosthuizen, the top-ranked OWGRer in the field this week, finished T19 last year on debut, also opening with bogey-free 65, one of 21 error-free laps in R1. There was just one bogey-free lap in R4, however, a day-low 64 by Oosthuizen, a higher finish stunted by middle scores of 68-71. The Florida resident’s career low on TOUR is 63 (x2), most recently in the desert in R3 at the 2021 WM Phoenix Open (finished T11). Today’s effort featured six birdies, three from between 15 and 19 feet, on 12 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation, gaining 1.865 strokes off-the-tee, 0.796 approaching, and 1.669 on-the-green.