Ailing Oosthuizen goes out in last eight at Dove Mountain
(Reuters) - South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen had been one of the standout players at this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship but was ousted in the quarter-finals on Saturday after struggling with an ailing back.
Oosthuizen, who was sidelined for almost three months last year with a lingering neck and back injury, lost 2&1 to Australian Jason Day after receiving periodic treatment from his physiotherapist out on the course.
"I was a bit disappointed to start this morning on the range not feeling too good," former British Open champion Oosthuizen told reporters. "It got better the last four or five holes and I felt a lot better.
"It's just a bit painful that it always happens when I'm playing well. I need to address it big time now and get it sorted."
Oosthuizen, who clinched his only major title with a commanding seven-stroke victory at the 2010 British Open, had upset top-seeded Swede Henrik Stenson 4&3 in the second round before crushing American Webb Simpson 5&4 on Friday.
"I felt I played really well (today) but you can't give away holes to a guy like Jason, you're not going to get them back," said the 31-year-old South African. "I had a tough start and it was really tough to get back. He played really well."
Asked how much back pain he had suffered during his quarter-final match, Oosthuizen replied: "The walking was quite affecting it today. If I can commit myself to hit the shot it's not that bad, but I can't commit.
"My body is restricting me to go through the shot. So I just hit a few iron shots that I really stuck down and committed, and hit great shots - the third shot on 11 and things like that.
"It's irritating to play something like that in the back of your head. But I'm not making any excuses. Jason played really well."
Oosthuizen, who won his seventh European Tour title at the Volvo Golf Champions in his native South Africa in January, endured a frustrating 2013 campaign because of his persistent back and neck problems.
He had to withdraw after three rounds of the Byron Nelson Championship in May, pulled out of the U.S. Open the following month after opening with a 75 and lasted just six holes at the British Open in July before calling it quits.
Oosthuizen only returned to competitive golf at the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in late September after being sidelined with injury since July.
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