Erik van Rooyen

South African professional golfer

Erik van Rooyen

Personal information
Full name| Frederik Wilhelm van Rooyen
Born|  (1990-02-21) 21 February 1990 (age 34)
Bellville, South Africa
Height| 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight| 86 kg (190 lb; 13.5 st)
Sporting nationality|  South Africa
Residence| Johannesburg, South Africa
Spouse| Rose van Rooyen
Children| 2
Career
College| University of Minnesota
Turned professional| 2013
Current tour(s)| PGA Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s)| European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins| 6
Highest ranking| 40 (23 February 2020)[1]
(as of 3 November 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour| 2
European Tour| 1
Sunshine Tour| 1
Challenge Tour| 1
Other| 1
Best results in major championships

Masters Tournament| T55: 2024
PGA Championship| T8: 2019
U.S. Open| T23: 2020
The Open Championship| T17: 2018
Achievements and awards
| European Tour
Graduate of the Year| 2018

|

Frederik Wilhelm van Rooyen (born 21 February 1990) is a South African professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has won twice on the PGA Tour, as well as once on the European Tour.

## Amateur career

[edit]

Van Rooyen attended the University of Minnesota from 2009 through 2013.[2] During this experience, he won the 2012 Minnesota State Amateur.[3]

## Professional career

[edit]

In 2013, Van Rooyen turned professional. He has played on the Sunshine Tour since turning professional. In early 2017, he had his first win on the tour, the Eye of Africa PGA Championship, making a birdie at the first extra hole in a three-man playoff.[4] He played on the 2017 Challenge Tour where he had his second professional win, the Hainan Open. A number of other good finishes, including fourth place in the Kazakhstan Open and a tie for third in the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final, put van Rooyen third in the Challenge Tour Race to Oman rankings, earning a card for the 2018 European Tour season.

Erik van Rooyen at the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the driving range before the second round

In December 2017, van Rooyen was runner-up in the Joburg Open, three strokes behind Shubhankar Sharma. The event was part of the Open Qualifying Series and his high finish gave him an entry to the 2018 Open Championship, his first major championship.[5] He led the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by four strokes after three rounds, but a final round 74 dropped him into a tie for 4th place.

Van Rooyen made a good start to 2019, finishing joint runner-up in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and the Hassan II Golf Trophy. He also had a top-10 finish in the 2019 PGA Championship.

On 25 August 2019, van Rooyen won his first European Tour title at the Scandinavian Invitation at Hills Golf & Sports Club, outside Gothenburg, Sweden. He sank a 12 feet birdie putt on the finishing par 5 72nd hole, to win by a stroke with a new tournament record 261 on the par 70 course.[6]

After van Rooyen tied for third at the WGC-Mexico Championship in February 2020, he advanced to a career best 40th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

After a T20 finish at the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in August 2020, van Rooyen was granted Special Temporary Membership until the end of the 2019–20 PGA Tour season.[7]

In August 2021, van Rooyen won his first PGA Tour event at the Barracuda Championship. He broke the tournament scoring record by shooting a total of 50 points (modified stableford) over four rounds.[8]

In November 2023, van Rooyen won the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship for his first PGA Tour win in over two years. He made a putt for an eagle on the par-5 18th hole on Sunday to win. In the last round, van Rooyen played the back nine in 8-under 28 as part of a 9-under 63.[9]

## Amateur wins

[edit]

* 2011 Southern Cape Open
* 2012 Minnesota State Amateur

## Professional wins (6)

[edit]

### PGA Tour wins (2)

[edit]

No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of
victory | Runner(s)-up

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 8 Aug 2021 | Barracuda Championship | 50 pts (7-17-10-16=50)  | 5 points  |  Andrew Putnam
2  | 5 Nov 2023 | World Wide Technology Championship | −27 (68-64-66-63=261)  | 2 strokes  |  Matt Kuchar,  Camilo Villegas

### European Tour wins (1)

[edit]

No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of
victory | Runner-up

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 25 Aug 2019 | Scandinavian Invitation | −19 (65-68-64-64=261)  | 1 stroke  |  Matt Fitzpatrick

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result

|
|
|
|

1  | 2019 | Turkish Airlines Open |  Tyrrell Hatton,  Benjamin Hébert,
Kurt Kitayama,  Victor Perez,
Matthias Schwab | Hatton won with par on fourth extra hole
Kitayama eliminated by birdie on third hole
Hébert, Perez and van Rooyen eliminated by birdie on first hole

### Sunshine Tour wins (1)

[edit]

No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of
victory | Runners-up

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 12 Feb 2017 | Eye of Africa PGA Championship | −16 (69-68-68-67=272)  | Playoff  |  Dylan Frittelli,  Makhetha Mazibuko

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result

|
|
|
|

1  | 2017 | Eye of Africa PGA Championship |  Dylan Frittelli,  Makhetha Mazibuko | Won with birdie on first extra hole

### Challenge Tour wins (1)

[edit]

No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of
victory | Runners-up

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 15 Oct 2017 | Hainan Open1 | −18 (67-65-67-71=270)  | 2 strokes  |  Grant Forrest,  Tapio Pulkkanen

1Co-sanctioned by the China Tour

### Other wins (1)

[edit]

No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of
victory | Runner-up

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 12 Jun 2016  | Tapemark Charity Pro-Am  | −13 (69-64-67=200)  | 5 strokes  |  Justin Smith

Source:[10]

## Results in major championships

[edit]

Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.

Tournament  | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Masters Tournament |  |  | WD  |  | CUT  |  | T55
PGA Championship |  | T8  | T51  | CUT  | CUT  |  | T53
U.S. Open |  | T43  | T23  | CUT  | CUT  |  | CUT
The Open Championship | T17  | T20  | NT  | CUT  |  |  |

Top 10

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

### Summary

[edit]

Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1
PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3
U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2
The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2
Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 8

* Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2018 Open – 2020 U.S. Open)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (2019 PGA)

## Results in The Players Championship

[edit]

Tournament  | 2022 | 2023 | 2024

|
|
|

The Players Championship | T13  |  | CUT

Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

## Results in World Golf Championships

[edit]

Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

|
|
|
|
|

Championship |  | T36  | T3  | T37  |
Match Play |  |  | NT1 | R16  | T60
Invitational |  |  | T20  |  |
Champions | T22  | T38  | NT1 | NT1 | NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

Top 10

Did not play

NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

## Team appearances

[edit]

Professional

* World Cup (representing South Africa): 2018

## See also

[edit]

* 2017 Challenge Tour graduates

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Week 8 2020 Ending 23 Feb 2020" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
2. ^ "Erik van Rooyen". Golden Gophers. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
3. ^ "MGA Amateur Championship". Minnesota Golf Association. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022.
4. ^ "Van Rooyen pulls off Eye of Africa play-off victory". Sunshine Tour. 12 February 2017.
5. ^ "Sharma romps to maiden win at Joburg Open". European Tour. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
6. ^ "Van Rooyen jumps into Race to Dubai top ten". European Tour. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
7. ^ "Erik van Rooyen accepts Special Temporary Membership". PGA Tour. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
8. ^ "Erik van Rooyen wins first PGA Tour title in style, setting tourney scoring record". Golf Digest. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
9. ^ "van Rooyen eagles 18 to win in Mexico as Kuchar melts down". TSN.ca. Associated Press. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
10. ^ Fermoyle, Mike (12 June 2016). "Van Rooyen Cruises to Victory at Tapemark". TSN.ca. Minnesota Golf Association. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Erik van Rooyen at the PGA Tour official site
* Erik van Rooyen at the European Tour official site
* Erik van Rooyen at the Sunshine Tour official site
* Erik van Rooyen at the Official World Golf Ranking official site