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Oosthuizen eyes first European Tour win
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Oosthuizen eyes first European Tour win

South African Louis Oosthuizen has given himself a great chance to win his first European Tour title - and with it a place in the Masters Tournament.

Louis Oosthuizen

Runner-up to Welshman Rhys Davies in Morocco last week after leading by three with 15 holes to play, Oosthuizen takes a one shot advantage over England's Robert Coles into the final day of the Open de Andalucia de Golf in Malaga.

The 27 year old is likely to need a victory in his bid for a second successive trip to Augusta, and a four under par 66 kept him on course.

Oosthuizen, second four times on the circuit but five times a winner in his home country, now stands 14 under and said: "My putting has not let me down, but I'm not happy with how I hit a few irons shots.

"It's a low scoring course, but the thing is you can try and attack it too much and make stupid bogeys. I made a few today.

"Tomorrow, I will go out and give it all, I will not do anything different."

Coles, a 37 year old from Essex, has been on and off The European Tour since his debut in 1995.

His 63 was his lowest round in 267 tournaments and lifted him from ninth to second while fellow Englishman Sam Hutsby, the joint overnight leader, dropped back to joint fifth on ten under with a level par 70.

Coles lost his father in January but, with wife Sinead expecting their second child shortly, he is enjoying being back on The European Tour.

His last full season was 2006, but he graduated from The European Challenge Tour at the end of last year.

"There have been lots of times when I thought I might not have another chance," he said.

"I had three years on the Challenge Tour and each time I thought, 'Am I doing the right thing?', but getting my card back justifies the effort."

He started for home with five successive birdies to climb into the hunt, chipped in to save par at the 16th and finished with another birdie. Having holed from off the green at the 11th as well, his round contained a mere 20 putts.

Spaniard Gabriel Canizares, who on Friday had the first albatross of The European Tour season, is only two behind on 12 under following a 65.

“I am very, very happy, not only because of the way I played but also for the way I handle pressure,” he said.

“Tomorrow, I will try not to think and will go hole by hole, shot by shot.”

Hutsby, a 21 year old rookie from Hampshire, had a ding-dong battle with Oosthuizen over the first ten holes, making up for three bogeys with five birdies to remain joint leader.

But he played the last eight holes in two over compared to the South African's two under.

That left fellow Englishman Richard Finch in fourth on 11 under and Hutsby one further back alongside Scot Peter Whiteford and Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen.

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