The 2010 Open champion Oosthuizen carded a final-round three-over 73 to finish on two-over for the tournament, eight shots behind American winner Bryson DeChambeau on six-under. In fact, DeChambeau’s final round of three-under was the only under-par round on a difficult day four.

Another American, Matthew Wolf was solo second on even par. It was the best finish for Oosthuizen in a major since he ended tied second at the 2017 PGA Championship.

“Finishing third in a major is always great,” said Oosthuizen after his round

“You could see early on what Bryson and Matt were going to do, and Bryson is playing his own little golf course at the moment. But yeah, I mean, this golf course definitely showed its teeth today with the firmness of the greens and the fairways and the wind, and it was just tough.”

Oosthuizen was in contention in the early stages as he was level par for the round after three holes and two-under overall - three behind the lead held by Wolff on five-under at that stage. But bogeys at four and eight dropped Oosthuizen back, though he did birdie the sixth.

By the back nine, and with Oosthuizen bogeying the par-three 10th - his chances of victory were effectively gone. Two more drops followed on 15 and 17, but a birdie on the par-four 18th ensured that Oosthuizen produced his first third place in a major of his career.

SA’s Erik van Rooyen, meanwhile, carded the second-best round of the day - a level par 70 to move up 17 positions into a tie for 23rd on 10-over for the week.

The only other SA player to make the cut, Christiaan Bezuidenhout settled for 55th position on 20-over.

- ANA