Oosthuizen three ahead in pursuit of SA, British Open double

JOHANNESBURG: Louis Oosthuizen took a three-shot third-round lead in the EPGA South African Open on Saturday as he seeks to become the sixth golfer to win the event and the British Open. South Africans Ernie Els, Bobby Locke and Gary Player, Swede Henrik Stenson and New Zealander Bob Charles have won the two oldest national championships in the world. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open winner, carded a four-under-par 67 for a 199 total at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg while overnight leader and fellow South African Charl Schwartzel slumped to a one-over 72. Former Masters champion Schwartzel shares second place on 202 with Zambian Madalitso Muthiya (71) and Matt Wallace (68), hoping to become the fourth English winner in five seasons. A group of eight are three strokes further back going into the final round with four-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa among them after a 68. “It was a tough round but I played well,” said Oosthuizen, whose world ranking of 36 is the highest in the field. “I was left off the tee with a few bad drives but fixed that problem during the inward half of my round. “My putting gave me a lot of pleasure today. I could not make anything yesterday, but today the makeable ones went in.