Fearless Ortiz harnesses the wind to capture Oman title in compelling fashion

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz upstaged Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann to record a convincing victory in the $2 million International Series Oman – the first of this year’s International Series events.

Ortiz, joint leader at the start of day with Oosthuizen and with a host of big-name players breathing down his neck, showed no fear and shot a seven under-par 65 to top the leaderboard on 19-under.

He beat one of the pre-event favourites Oosthuizen by four, after the South African carded a 69 at Al Mouj Golf, here on the Muscat coastline, when the wind was up.

Niemann fired a 67 to take third place outright, one stroke further back, in the Asian Tour’s second event of the season.

Ortiz brilliantly broke away from the pack with seven birdies in nine holes starting from the sixth. At the turn he had a two-shot lead thanks to birdies on six, seven and nine and left the field trailing in his wake with an eye-catching one-man show making birdies on 10, 11, 13 and 14.

He was able to stroll down the 18th with a four-shot lead over Oosthuizen.

Incredibly, Ortiz started the week with a double bogey on his opening hole on Thursday but after that he did not drop a stroke over the next 71 holes.

"With the way the wind was, I had to hold on for the first five holes," said the 32-year-old Mexican – the former Fireballs GC player on the LIV Golf League who now plays for Torque GC, who are captained by Niemann.

"After that it was more downwind, so this is how this course plays and you have to take advantage of it. The wind then kind of calmed down and I attacked the pins, and I made some good putts.

"I hope this is the start of a great year. It means so much to win an International Series event. I would like to play in Majors this year and win on the LIV Golf League."

The win marks his first success on a main Tour since he claimed the Houston Open on the PGA Tour in 2020. It will also make up for losing in a sudden-death play-off for the individual title at last year’s LIV Golf Tucson. That performance did however help the Fireballs win the team title, one of two in 2023.

Ortiz becomes only the third Mexican winner on the Asian Tour. Carlos Espinosa was the first at the 1995 Canlubang Classic in the Philippines, while Abraham Ancer, also playing this week, was the next, a mere 28 years later, at last year’s star-studded season-opening PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers.

Mito Pereira from Chile, also on Torque GC, tied for fourth six behind the winner following a 66, along with Australian Maverick Antcliff, who fired a 65.

Japan’s Takumi Kanaya defended his title well, closing with a 68 to take a share of seventh, on 11 under.

Last week’s winner of the Malaysian Open, Spain’s David Puig, tied for 10th after a 68.

Dubai based Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) struggled to a final round 78 to finish in 58th with rounds over the first three days of 75, 68 and 70 for a total of 291, three over par.

Jeev told Khaleej Times, "It was a tough final round – because of my putting. I played well – but lost my patience – which you should never do on the golf course.

'"The wind was the strongest of the week – which made scoring a real challenge. My next event is on the Asian Tour in a couple of weeks in Macau and then on to the Senior Tour in Japan."

The Asian Tour travels to the Southern Hemisphere next week for the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.

The NZ$2million event is being played on the Coronet and Remarkables Course at the Millbrook Resort, in Queenstown from February 29 – March 3. Australia’s Brendan Jones is the defending champion.

Results

(7,413 Yards, Par 72)

C. Ortiz (Mex) 67. 69. 68. 65. 269.

L. Oosthuizen (RSA) 71. 66. 67. 69. 273.

J. Niemann (Chi) 66. 73. 68. 67. 274.

M. Antcliff (Aus) 74. 68. 68. 65. 275.

M. Pereira (Chi) 67. 66. 76. 66. 275.

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