Erik van Rooyen (born 21 February 1990) is a South African professional golfer currently playing on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

and the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

. He won the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation on the European Tour, and the 2021

Barracuda Championship A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which ...

on the PGA Tour.

Amateur career

Van Rooyen attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

from 2009, turning professional in 2013.

Professional career

Van Rooyen 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 The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afr ...

, making a birdie at the first extra hole in a three-man playoff. He played on the

2017 Challenge Tour The 2017 Challenge Tour is a series of professional golf tournaments collectively known as the Challenge Tour. The Challenge Tour is Europe's official developmental tour and is organised by the PGA European Tour. It was introduced in 1986 and ...

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 The 2018 European Tour is the 47th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972 and the 10th edition of the Race to Dubai. The Race to Dubai was won by Italian Francesco Molinari, who was also named Golfer of the Y ...

season.

Erik_van_Rooyen_at_the_2019_Scandinavian_Invitation

In December 2017, van Rooyen was runner-up in the

Joburg Open The Joburg Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is an event on the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour and co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which attracts a larger prize fund and stronger ...

, three strokes behind

Shubhankar Sharma Shubhankar Sharma (born 21 July 1996) is a professional golfer from India. In December 2017, he recorded his first tour win in the Joburg Open and followed this with a second win at the Maybank Championship in February 2018. He studied at Bal B ...

. The event was part of the Open Qualifying Series and his high finish gave him an entry to the

2018 Open Championship The 2018 Open Championship was the 147th Open Championship, and was held from 19–22 July 2018 at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. It was the eighth Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie. Playing conditions were unusual as a re ...

, his first major championship. 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 The Qatar Masters was a European Tour golf tournament held at Doha Golf Club in Doha, Qatar. When founded in 1998, it was one of two European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but was at one point, one of six. From 2005 to 2007 ...

and the

Hassan II Golf Trophy The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament was originally staged as an invita ...

. He also had a top-10 finish in the

2019 PGA Championship The 2019 PGA Championship was the 101st edition of the PGA Championship, and the second of golf's four major championships in 2019, held May 16–19 at the Black Course in Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, New York. This was the first edition u ...

. 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. After van Rooyen tied for third at the

WGC-Mexico Championship The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season. Under sp ...

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 The 2019–20 PGA Tour was the 105th season (53rd since separating from the PGA of America) of the United States-based elite men's professional golf circuit. The season started on September 12, 2019. The 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs began on August 2 ...

season. In August 2021, van Rooyen won his first PGA Tour event at the

. He broke the tournament scoring record by shooting a total of 50 points ( modified stableford) over four rounds.

Amateur wins

*2011 Southern Cape Open *2012 Minnesota State Amateur

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (1)

European Tour wins (1)

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

Sunshine Tour wins (1)

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–0)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the China Tour

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Summary

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

Results in The Players Championship

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic
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

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:van Rooyen, Erik South African male golfers Minnesota Golden Gophers men's golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from the Western Cape People from Bellville, South Africa White South African people 1990 births Living people