And, indeed, they did. As Erik van Rooyen walked off with an emotional victory on Sunday at the World Wide Technology Championship, the finally tally was in. The field hit a collective 5,740 tee shots on the par 4s and par 5s over four rounds, and 5,194 landed in the fairway. That’s a 90.48 per cent accuracy rate, an astonishing number when you consider most hit previously in any tournament during the 2022-23 season was 74.94 per cent at the Masters.

En route to victory, Van Rooyen missed just four fairways — and ranked T-25 among his peers. Finishing first in the field was Adam Long, who didn’t miss a single fairway all week, a first on the PGA Tour in 31 years.

“It’s something I’ll be able to say forever,” Long told PGATour.com, “some sort of bragging rights or an interesting stat at trivia nights.”

For the season, Long ranks 13th on tour in driving accuracy, hitting 66.78 per cent. So maybe it wasn’t a surprise that he would be out front in Mexico.

Long admitted he was thinking about keeping his perfect week intact as he played the last hole, the reachable par-5 18th with a fairway bunker along the left side of the hole. Long’s tee shot drifted toward the sand, and because of the way the tee box was positioned, he wasn’t sure if where his ball finished up until he walked a good way up the hole.

“I was like: ‘Ahh come on, don’t make it the last one! It’s all right to miss one, but don’t make it the very last hole,’” Long said. “So we get over the crest, maybe 100 yards before the ball, and it’s sitting right in front of the bunker and it was mine. It hung on for dear life. It was only a few feet from going into that bunker.”

But here’s the scary part: Long ended up 10 shots back of van Rooyen, coming in T-23. And, as it turns out, accuracy hasn’t helped the 36-year-old former tour winner shoot lower scores much this season. Despite playing in 36 events, Long is 142nd in the FedEx Cup points list. Aware he was in jeopardy of losing his PGA Tour card, Long is signed up for the second stage of Qualifying School.

Main image: Adam Long. Orlando Ramirez

The post Adam Long became the first PGA Tour player in 31 years to accomplish this incredible piece of perfection appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

That’s not to say that Van Rooyen wasn’t pleased to win his second PGA Tour title, especially after struggling for much of the year. And the manner in which he achieved it was something for which he should feel legitimate satisfaction, as the 33-year-old native of South Africa fired a back-nine 28 at El Cardonal at Diamante, capped by an 18-foot eagle putt, to surge past Matt Kuchar and win by two strokes.

But van Rooyen was playing with a heavy heart. His college teammate, Jon Trasamar, is battling terminal cancer, making the win bitter-sweet, if not outright hollow. And Van Rooyen had no trouble letting the world know it — after, that is, taking several moments to collect himself in the immediate aftermath.

For my best friend, Jon @WWTChampionship ? pic.twitter.com/u24Y7H5C9p

— Erik van Rooyen (@FredVR_) November 6, 2023

“There’s bigger stuff in life than golf,” he said, fighting back tears thinking of his former University of Minnesota teammate. “If you look at my ball … it has the initials ‘JT’ and it’s for Jon Trasamar, our best friend. He’s got melanoma, and he’s not going to make it. And every shot out there was for him. And when you’re playing for something bigger than some silly trophy it puts things in perspective, and at the end of the day whether I won here or whether I lost here, it really did not matter.

“Yeah, when something motivates you like that whether you make a putt or miss a putt, who cares?”

Van Rooyen made just about every putt he looked at on the inward nine at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal layout. He began the day a stroke behind Kuchar and Camilo Villegas, who were at 19-under 197 through 54 holes, and he fell farther behind as Villegas birdied four of his first six and then Kuchar took over with as burst of four birdies in six holes beginning with a 25-footer at the par-3 ninth.

It still looked like a two-man battle, but Justin Suh made a back-nine push of his own to get within one of Kuchar before Van Rooyen caught fire. He birdied the first three holes of the back nine, added a two-putt birdie at the 14th and then got over the top by playing his final three holes in four-under.

Entering the week ranked 193rd in the world, Van Rooyen converted from 30 feet at the par-3 16th, added an 18-footer for birdie at No. 17, and then reached the 585-yard par-5 home hole in two shots to set up the winning putt.

Kuchar, who had won this event in 2018, missed the green with his second shot and pitched his third to 15 feet, hoping to have a chance for a tie. But Van Rooyen, who’s only other PGA Tour win was the 2021 Barracuda Championship, never gave him the chance.

Van Rooyen raised a fist in the air after the winning putt found the centre of the cup on the par-5 home hole. It was the crowning stroke in closing nine-under 63 and 27-under 261 total. After retrieving his ball from the hole, Van Rooyen shared a long embrace with his caddie, Alex Gaugert, who broke down sobbing. Gaugert also was a member of the Gophers golf team with Trasamar, whose pro career was confined mainly to the mini-tours.

“Just hung in there and made some fricking awesome putts on 16, 17 and 18,” said Van Rooyen, who at one point this season missed seven cuts in a row.

An emotional winning moment.
@FredVR_ takes the victory with a walk-off eagle @WWTChampionship. pic.twitter.com/qy0EEcCbaT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 5, 2023

Villegas, a four-time tour winner trying to make a comeback from his own personal tragedy — the death of his 22-month-old daughter Mia to cancer in 2020 — birdied the last and tied Kuchar for second place at 25-under 263. Each shot 66.

“A lot of positives this week. Man, it’s been a long few years, a lot of work,” said Villegas, 41, who has slipped to 752 in the world and even did some analyst work for Golf Channel this summer. “This year has been a grind just technically working with my new instructor, working with a new mental coach and getting a little bit older. But I don’t want to stop playing. I love playing. You never know, you never know. You keep waiting for the results to come and you keep grinding and you keep grinding. And obviously this week was a special one.”

“I’m pretty bummed. But I hold my head held high,” said the 45-year-old Kuchar, who was seeking his 10th career title. “Erik played incredible golf. What was that? Eight-under par on the final nine holes is quite an awesome finale, so hard to keep up with.”

The victory was worth $1.476 million for van Rooyen, who was planning to fly to Minnesota on Monday to visit with Trasamar. But the only real value he saw in the endeavour was that he carried his friend in his very heavy heart with each stroke he made.

“It’s extremely immaterial,” he said. “You know, it takes some not too long to mature and it takes others longer to mature, and it’s taken me a while. I’m 33 years old and I’ve got two kids now. That gives you perspective. Then when something like this happens where your best friend who was best man in my wedding — what’s it? Nine years ago now — when he’s hit with melanoma, it puts things in perspective while golf doesn’t really matter.

“When I’m 80 years old, if I get to that age, and I look back, if I lost it, I certainly wouldn’t remember it. I’m going to remember the people that I spent time with, the people that I love, and he’s certainly one of them.”

But now Van Rooyen has a win he’ll always remember, dedicated to a friend he’ll never forget.

Main image: Hector Vivas

The post Erik van Rooyen honours dying friend with emotional win at World Wide Technology Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It was their fantasy since playing college golf together at the University of Minnesota. Erik van Rooyen and Alex Gaugert dreamt of the days they’d room together, practice together and competing against each other on the PGA Tour. When it finally happened over a whirlwind five days at the 3M Open, only 16 miles from where they bonded as Golden Gophers, the reality was far more meaningful than they ever imagined.

Even amid both missing the cut on Friday at TPC Twin Cities, they stood together afterward — Van Rooyen the tour player and Gaugert his regular caddie who Monday qualified — and spoke with emotion about what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“It was a dream,” said Gaugert as he held his young daughter, Annika, in the crook of his arm. “It happened fast. Monday qualifiers, never done one and to get through was pretty cool. Then the tour allowed us to play together — that was really memorable and something we’ll never forget.

"It was a dream."

A special week Alex Gaugert and @FredVR_ will remember forever @3MOpen ? https://t.co/nSQfbqakkX pic.twitter.com/2YGNAZYa0o

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 29, 2023

“I know after I qualified there was definitely a few tears shed and it was really, really cool. And all the support, especially from … the caddie yard and all the caddies and even the players, it was nice to get that feeling where everyone’s lifting you up and telling you: ‘Good job.’ It was cool to kind of have the light shine on you for a week.”

Van Rooyen got teary speaking of those college dreams and said: “We get to share that a little bit with him on the bag, but with him playing a tournament, it was really, really cool.”

They may laugh later that they’re probably better as a team. Neither is playing on the weekend, with Van Rooyen shooting 68-71 to miss the cut by a shot, while Gaugert bounced back from an opening 77 to shoot even-par 71 in the second round to miss by 10 shots.

Gaugert said he long ago understood how skilled the players were on the PGA Tour.

“Before you kind of see it, you have this kind of false sense of hope,” he said. “Once you see it first-hand, week in and week out, with all these great players, puts in perspective what it takes to be out here.

“A lot of friends who maybe are amateurs will tell me: ‘Dude, you need to go play.’ I would love to, but I know how good I have to be and if I can’t do that on a daily basis at home, what makes me think that I’m going to be able to do it in a tournament.”

With their group finishing on the ninth hole Friday, Van Rooyen and Gaugert walked up the fairway side-by-side, sharing wide smiles.

“Just taking in the moment,” Gaugert said. “You don’t get these special moments every single week. This game’s hard, and it was.”

Added van Rooyen, “Playing the PGA Tour is such a huge privilege, man. It’s the best of the best that play here. And I know how good he is and to see the look on his face, it just reinforces for me how grateful I need to be playing here.”

The post Still pals: Pro and his caddie who Monday qualified soaked up dream week playing together at 3M Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

We’ve already written about caddie Alex Gaugert Monday qualifying for the 3M Open and his boss looking for a one-week replacement through Twitter. It’s a fun story and all, but now we have even more drama. Not only will Gaugert be teeing off in the same tournament as friend and associate Erik van Rooyen, but the two will be playing at least 36 holes together at TPC Twin Cities as they have been paired together for the first two rounds.

Alex Gaugert, who caddies for Erik Van Rooyen normally, but Monday Q’d this week is paired the first two rounds….

With Erik van Rooyen. Pretty damn cool. pic.twitter.com/gB08QCslUO

— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) July 25, 2023

The gift that keeps on giving ? @3MOpen pic.twitter.com/klsBl0y80o

— Erik van Rooyen (@FredVR_) July 25, 2023

It doesn’t look like there’s bad blood between the two as Van Rooyen called it “the gift that keeps on giving”, but isn’t this exactly the kind of thing that someone who’s terrified about being bested by their underling would say? What if Gaugert outshines Van Rooyen? Could the pair’s relationship be irreparably damaged? Probably not, but it’s a fun little side-story during one of the last events of the PGA Tour’s regular season.

It’s far from the first time the two have played together as Van Rooyen and Gaugert were teammates at the University of Minnesota. Gaugert tied for 20th at the Big Ten Championships with a +15 score, tied for 39th at the NCAA Raleigh Regional and recorded a spring season low of 69 in three consecutive rounds at the Del Water Classic as a Golden Gopher, so it won’t be an easy time for Van Rooyen.

No matter what happens, we already know there will be plenty of trash-talk between Gaugert and van Rooyen following this event, and that’s truly all that matters.

The post PGA Tour caddie Monday qualifies for 3M Open, gets paired with his boss appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Looking for some part-time work in the Minneapolis area? Then, boy, do we have a nice gig for you. Well, one PGA Tour pro does, rather. It involves long hours and carrying a heavy bag, but there’s a big potential payoff.

Of course, we’re talking about caddieing. And one tour pro, Erik van Rooyen, is in need of one after his normal looper, Alex Gaugert, Monday qualified for this week’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.

The 33-year-old South African is undoubtedly happy for his former teammate at the University of Minnesota, but he really does need some help now. So he put out a want ad on Twitter.

So my caddie @lil_gaugs just qualified for the @3MOpen! What a STUD!!! Soooooooo anyone want to loop this week?! @PGATOUR

— Erik van Rooyen (@FredVR_) July 25, 2023

It’s the latest reminder that not only are these guys good, but a lot of these guys’ caddies are also very good. In addition to being a former Gopher, Gaugert also won the 2014 Wisconsin State Amateur.

And to those applying to be on Van Rooyen’s bag, hey, you never know. We’ve seen plenty of fill-in caddies wind up on the winning side, including Akshay Bhatia’s girlfriend, Steve Stricker’s daughter, and, yes, that local caddie Matt Kuchar won with at the 2018 Mayakoba Classic.

So good luck to Alex, who is making his PGA Tour debut and playing against his boss this week. And good luck to those applying to be his replacement. We’re pretty sure Van Rooyen will pay a lot better than Kuchar should he wind up hoisting the trophy on Sunday.

The post PGA Tour pro puts out Twitter search for caddie after his looper qualifies for this week’s event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

To be fair to the 10-time DP World Tour winner, the choice wasn’t that quite that easy, with Noren being the first alternate for the final major of the year. That being said, it was an interesting decision to fly to California for a few reasons. A decision the 40-year-old Swede is undoubtedly kicking himself over now.

On Thursday morning, Justin Rose withdrew from the Open, leaving the door open for someone else. With Noren not there, the coveted spot in the field went to Rikuya Hoshino. Ouch. Later, Erik van Rooyen became a second WD and he was replaced by Aaron Rai. Again, ouch.

Look, being an alternate at a golf tournament is like flying on standby. It’s a bit of a risk because you can go through a lot of effort and get nothing out of it. But, again, Noren, one of the highest-ranked players in the world (No. 66) not in the field at St Andrews, was the first alternate. And this is the Open Championship. At St. Andrews! And he was already in Scotland after finishing T-30 at last week’s Scottish Open! Instead he flew halfway around the world! To play in the Barracuda Championship!

Making the decision even more questionable is the fact that Noren is currently No. 75 on the FedEx Cup points list and in no danger of losing his PGA Tour card for next season. And yet he passed up a possible opportunity to play in an Open Championship at the Home of Golf. Pretty wild.

At least he wouldn’t have gotten a fun pairing. Wait, never mind! Noren would have played with Ryder Cup teammates Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood. It doesn’t get much more fun than teeing it up with Moliwood!

Of course, if Noren winds up winning the Barracuda Championship, he’ll have made the right decision. Maybe.

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The post Open Championship 2022: Alex Noren has to be kicking himself for questionable decision that cost him his tee time appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With a win on each of the DP World and PGA Tours, and that next level moustache, Erik Van Rooyen has become one of the most recognisable players on tour. Daily News caught up with the 31-year-old South African, who enjoyed T25 and T20 finishes in Hawaii before heading to the Middle East, to discover more about the man behind the improving golf game and those well-groomed whiskers.

Especially if I compare it to where I was at this time of the year 12 months ago, there’s been a lot of growth that’s happened the last five months. I’m definitely a lot more comfortable in tournaments like that [the PGA Tour events in Hawaii], playing against strong fields. I think people underestimate the value of experience in this game. For the last three years that my caddie has been with me, we’ve only played three courses where we’ve seen the golf course for a second time. A course like the Sony O-pen [T20], to see it for a second time around I think that experience we had was invaluable and a solid start to 2022. 

• • •

Goals in 2022? Honestly, I haven’t really written anything down. I think sometimes when you write things down like that you can almost limit yourself. I don’t have say, for example, a set amount of times that I’d like to win or a specific tournament that I’d like to win. I think every single time that I tee up, my goal is to win that tournament. Obviously that doesn’t always happen but that’s just the mindset I’m in.

• • •

The two previous times that I’ve been around this golf course, to be honest with you, I’m a different player now than I was back in 2019 [T119] and 2020 [T37]. My game’s of a much higher level…I’m a much better driver of the ball now. This is a course that demands good driving and at the same time, if you don’t drive it well, it demands a strong short game. The greens are relatively small with some really good bunkering and it will literally test every facet of your game.

• • •

I would absolutely love to lift this trophy. I love this golf course even though I haven’t quite delivered the goods yet but I love a challenge. I’ve always been one to enjoy a good challenge. I feel like when my back is against the wall, I have the type of game, and it’s just in my nature to do my best and to deliver the goods when it matters most. Maybe this is the year.

• • •

I grew up in a house where music was always around. My aunt and my uncle both studied music at university, my uncle is a guitar player and my aunt plays the piano and sings. Rock and roll was always in the house, anything from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to Mark Knopfler and Neil Young. My mum was a bit more into classical music but I guess I always wanted to play guitar.

• • •

When I was 14 and beginning high school, I finally picked one up and pretty much taught myself. In brief, I absolutely love music and playing the guitar brings me great joy. But I am not sure there is a stage career beckoning after golf. I have got dreams of playing with my favourite bands on stage but I guess we will have to see if that ever happens.

Erik Van Rooyen and Chris Kirchner The CEO of Slync.io (right) plant a young Gaff Tree beside the 18th tee. Getty Images

• • •

I have a travel guitar. It actually folds up into a backpack and it’s still got a lovely sound. The neck sort of detaches from the body so it fits into a nice travel size backpack.

• • •

I guess I am more of a bodyboarder, it runs in my family, we’re all sort of surfers. The best breaks I have ridden was Supertubes and J-Bay in South Africa. I mean absolute world class surf break but you know I definitely don’t get too much time to do it while on tour.

• • •

Will I keep the moustache? I think that remains to be seen. I love a good solid beard as you all know. My wife actually prefers the beard as well. But she’s been trying to kind of nudge me in the direction of shaving it off, but for now it’s staying. And about keeping it looking so on point, honestly, I think a lot of that is just natural talent and genes to be honest! I tend to brush it every morning though with a comb. I have little pair of scissors that I trim it with…no one wants to see a piece of cheese hanging down from your stash. So you’ve got to keep it from hanging down the lip, brush it sideways and give it a little bit of twist. That’s the secret guys.

• • •

I think the biggest lesson for me after winning the Barracuda Championship was that I was in a bit of a hole at that point, and I struggled, so looking back it’s just you never know when the sparks come back and when it’s going to turn around. So, I guess, never lose faith or hope in your abilities because what got you there in the first place, that’s exact same stuff that’s going to help you win again.

• • •

I think it’s unfortunate for spectators that they only show a handful of players. I understand obviously that they do that for the TV ratings, but there are so many good and exciting players on PGA Tour and here on the DP World Tour and it’s a pity that they don’t get more coverage. But yeah, it’s hard, everyone is good, everyone knows how to get the ball in the hole, and I think especially on the PGA Tour, guys just keep making birdies. You have to keep the pedal down if you want to win, and that’s what makes it so competitive, so difficult.

• • •

I am a tireless worker, and to be honest, I personally think you can not say that someone has got all the talent. Every single person out here has worked tirelessly to get where they are. Some of us work harder than others, and I definitely put myself in that category. I try and squeeze out every ounce of the day and every ounce of ability that I have. Talent can only get you so far. There is no substitute for hard work.

The post Erik van Rooyen: The Man, the Myth, the Mo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
Erik van Rooyen wasn’t sure which camera to look at, then had to introduce himself to the PGA Tour media official shepherding him through the carwash of post-round obligations.

He’s still new at this, at least relatively so. At 31, he’s not particularly young by today’s phenom-impacted standards. He’s won on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour and been inside the world’s top 50, so it’s not like he’s a complete outsider. But he’s playing his first full season as a PGA Tour member—he locked up his card through non-member points last year—and, up until a few weeks ago, he hadn’t done much to warrant any post-round attention at all.

“Up-and-down, definitely,” van Rooyen said of his debut campaign. “Lots of down. I’ve only sort of found my feet the last month or so.”

Prior to August, the enduring memory of van Rooyen’s year was a cringeworthy one. It happened back at Kiawah Island; perhaps you remember. Marred in a slump and needing to play the final two holes in level par to make the PGA Championship cut, his tee shot on the par-3 17th trickled … and trickled … and trickled into the water. He was now going to miss his fourth cut in a row, and he absolutely lost it. The normally affable South African swung at a tee marker, missed, then turned around and swung again. He made sweet contact on that second swipe, breaking the marker and snapping his club in half, with the head saucering down the fairway and nearly slicing the leg of Matt Wallace’s caddie.

“One of the lowest points of my career,” van Rooyen said Saturday at Liberty National. He’s in a much better place now. More on that in a minute. “It’s really not like me to do stuff like that, but obviously I did it and I apologized for it. I’m still pretty embarrassed about it.”

His next tournament wasn’t a tournament at all but a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Open—at the loaded Columbus site for final qualifying. Van Rooyen shot 14 under to finish co-medalist, then took T-10 at the Palmetto Championship that weekend. The momentum had turned, it seemed, until he tweaked his neck at the U.S. Open and had to take the next three weeks off. After a missed cut at the Open Championship, his season seemed destined for an appearance in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

“But throughout that stretch, there was glimpses of really good stuff,” he said, “and I hung on to that. And it’s coming through now.”

Indeed it is. Van Rooyen shot 62 on Saturday and will enter Monday’s final round—the PGA Tour decided against even trying to play Sunday, with Hurricane Henri set to make landfall in the Northeast—with a chance to win the Northern Trust, but that’s not the only goal in play. Van Rooyen entered this week No. 76 in the FedEx Cup standings and, after Saturday’s round, was projected to move up toward the top 20. That’d easily get him into 70-man BMW Championship, and a top-three finish would put him in great position to make the Tour Championship.

Van Rooyen is not bothered with all the mathematical possibilities at the minute, for there is a trophy in his sights. It’d be his second victory in three weeks after he knocked off win No. 1 at the Barracuda Championship while all the big boys played the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

“That win was huge for him,” his caddie/college golf teammate/best friend, Alex Gaugert, said. He goes by ‘Feely.’ Childhood nickname. “He’s so good, but sometimes he needs to be reminded of how good he is. Amazing what a little bit of confidence will do.”

A little confidence, and a little person. Van Rooyen and his wife, Rose, who he met while at the University of Minnesota, welcomed their first child—a baby girl, Valerie—six months ago.

“I didn’t know you could love something so much, like, instantly,” van Rooyen said. “That was the biggest thing. I don’t feel like all the sudden I’m playing for someone else or anything like that. But I just—you’re a bit lighter when you walk off the course because you get to look into your daughter’s eyes and everything’s OK.”

The post How Erik van Rooyen bounced back from his embarrassing tantrum at the PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WE’RE BUYING

Abraham Ancer: How can you not root for a guy who learned the game at a public driving range in Mexico, began his collegiate career at a junior college, and might be shorter than the Wanamaker Trophy? Throw in a bunch of close calls and it was nice to see him notch his first PGA Tour win (Yes, we know he previously won the Australian Open). At a World Golf Championship to boot!

Sam Greenwood

Oh yeah, he can also do this:

First TOUR win for @Abraham_Ancer. ? pic.twitter.com/YTiwH030Fq

— Skratch (@Skratch) August 8, 2021

As if winning on the PGA Tour as one of the shortest—and shortest-hitting—players wasn’t magic enough, the dude is an actual magician.

Nelly Korda: A week ago we were celebrating the return of the GOAT with Annika Sorenstam winning the U.S. Senior Women’s Open by eight shots. Well, we could be witnessing the emergence of the next GOAT in the sport. Just weeks removed from winning her first major title, the 23-year-old captured the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Mike Ehrmann

The No. 1 ranking in women’s golf has been a bit of a revolving door in recent years, but this looks like the beginning of a lengthy reign for Nelly The Great.

Aditi Ashok’s putting: I’m still bummed this 23-year-old didn’t medal in Tokyo (Then again, I would have been bummed no matter who missed out on a medal during that fantastic final round), but what a performance by Ashok. Specifically, on the greens, where this Indian star putted like Tiger Woods in his prime as she gained more than 13 strokes on the greens alone. If I need someone to sink a four-footer with my life on the line, I’m calling this lady:

Chris Trotman

Ashok was surely disappointed to finish fourth, but her showing will do more for golf in her home country with a population of 1.4 BILLION people than any of the other golfers’ efforts. That being said, kudos to Mone Imani for following up Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win and Tsubasa Kajitani’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur title with a silver medal. What a year for golf in Japan. And Lydia Ko is “BACK!” after taking bronze. You love to see it. What a tournament.

Erik Van Rooyen: Nelly Korda wasn’t the only joggers-wearing golfer to win this past week and Abe Ancer wasn’t the only golfer to earn his maiden PGA Tour title. This South African joined them both with his victory at the Barracuda Championship. Along the way, Van Rooyen shredded Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course like he shreds the guitar, breaking the scoring record at the event that uses the modified Stableford scoring system.

Alex Goodlett

Smashing scoring records seems a lot more fun than smashing tee markers!

WE’RE SELLING

Bryson’s Sunday back nines: Something is clearly going on here that goes way beyond swing mechanics. Since all this “Brooksy” stuff started (more on that in a bit), DeChambeau has been in position to win two golf tournaments and has failed to break 40 on the back 9 either time. The first, a 44 at the U.S. Open and now a 41 at TPC Southwind, where even just a 39 (3 over) would have gotten him into a playoff. DeChambeau went from holding a two-shot lead at the turn to barely finishing in the top 10. These are just complete meltdowns that you might expect a great player to have a couple times in their careers, not a couple times in a couple months. Again, something is up. Something like . . .

Icon Sportswire

“Brooksy”: Bryson has made it easy to root against him at times and this week was certainly no exception. Whether you believe people should get the COVID vaccine or not, to say you didn’t get one because you didn’t want to “take the vaccine away from someone who needs it” was off the mark given that vaccines are in ample supply in the United States. Oh, and he also said nothing to the media once the tournament started. Bad job. But anyway, that’s not the point. I’m actually trying to stick up for Bryson here(!) as did Harris English following the final round and our Shane Ryan, who followed the two during that brutal Sunday back nine. Shane called the fan heckling “bullying” and I agree. It’s gone too far (Brooks Koepka stoking the flames didn’t help) and it should stop. Seriously, purposely calling someone by the wrong name? What are you, in first grade? Let’s do better, people.

Tinder swing tips: These shouldn’t be given unsolicited in general, but on Tinder? At the very least, you should know who you’re talking to. But “Todd” from IT had no clue he was conversing with a former LPGA Tour pro when he offered some advice for getting more distance on the tee to Anya Alvarez:

Random man on tinder giving me advice on my golf swing.

His profession?

He works in IT pic.twitter.com/DYl1y7c9Pp

— Anya Alvarez ??‍ (@anya__alvarez) August 5, 2021

Cringe. It doesn’t get much more awkward than that. Todd, the only way you’ll ever hear from Anya again is if she has computer problems.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Greensboro for its final regular-season event, the Wyndham Championship, AKA Rickie Fowler’s last stand. Fowler enters this week at No. 130 in the FedEx Cup standings so he’ll need a good performance just to move into the top 125 to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and keep his PGA Tour card for next season. Puma, Farmers, Mercedes, TaylorMade, Grant Thornton, Rocket Mortgage, etc. will be watching closely.

Random tournament fact: In 2019, J.T. Poston became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to go bogey-free while winning a 72-hole PGA Tour event. The fact that that’s even been done one time is insane.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Rickie Fowler will go bogey-free this week: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Rickie Fowler will win this week: 50-to-1 odds (Actual odds)
—You will see plenty of Rickie next season no matter what happens this week: LOCK

PHOTO/INSTAGRAM OF THE WEEK

 

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A post shared by Kevin Na (@kevinna915)

Hey, sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I had obviously some close calls this year and the previous seasons. I didn’t want to think of like, oh, my God, I’m so due, I didn’t want to put extra pressure. I’ve done enough in other events to win and it just didn’t go my way. So I just stayed patient, I didn’t change anything. I just try to get better at how I play golf and keep my head cool.”—World-class golfer and tequila mogul Abraham Ancer. Ugh, I said the T-word again. Going to need a minute.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

One of The Grind’s favourite WAGs met The Grind’s favourite local radio host/Masters leaderboard update provider!

what a world pic.twitter.com/WTsyeVcVMv

— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) August 8, 2021

CHRIS VERNON ALWAYS BURNIN’! Wait, CHRIS VERNON ALWAYS EARNIN’! OK, so we’re going to have to workshop that some more.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL JOHN DALY BEING JOHN DALY

John Daly sitting at the slot machines is, well, exactly how you’d picture John Daly sitting at the slot machines:

Looks like he’s super pumped for the Cowboys season to be starting soon as well.

THIS WEEK IN ME GROWING FORCING THE GAME ON MY DAUGHTER

Actually, this was all her after I came back from playing golf one day! I swear!

Played golf at work today and then came home to this… so yeah, today was a good day. pic.twitter.com/785LAQNTGD

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) August 5, 2021

Next up? We’re going to take a stab at mini golf. Pray for me.

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to University of Tennessee senior Tyler Johnson for shooting 27 under and winning the Tennessee Amateur by 14(!) shots. More like Tiger Johnson, am I right? . . . There is a 288-yard par-3 at Oakmont this week for the U.S. Amateur. Just a guess, but the scoring won’t be as good as the Tennessee Amateur. . . . Justin Thomas says he flew 23,587 miles in a recent four-week stretch. That’s a lot, but Gary Player probably isn’t impressed. . . . And finally, congrats to Chris Reynolds and Ron Kaspriske for winning the sixth annual Golf Digest Trainwreck Tournament (and the first one to have this beautiful trophy-like award):

And check out the gallery of co-workers who watched the playoff:

There are some tour events that would love to have that many fans! By the way, the team of Ryan Herrington and myself finished one shot out of that playoff in solo third. Sadly, there was no bronze medal.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who will represent the U.S. in golf at the next Olympics?
Will my daughters like golf?
Will I ever (knowingly) drink tequila again?

The post Bryson DeChambeau’s disastrous week, Abraham Ancer’s right answer, and an embarrassing Tinder fail appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Jared Goldstein
At one time 10 points behind the leader during Sunday’s final round, Erik van Rooyen took advantage of a four-hole stretch that included two birdies and an eagle to vault himself into contention—and eventually the winner’s circle—at the Barracuda Championship.

The mid-round burst was good for nine points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this unique PGA Tour event. After finishing the front nine in the equivalent of four-under 32, van Rooyen played the back nine bogey free, earning six points for his three birdies to claim his first career PGA Tour win, defeating 2018 champion Andrew Putnam by five points.

Van Rooyen’s clean card did not come, though, without a bit of drama. Holding a three-point lead on the 72nd tee, the 31-year-old from South Africa only needed a bogey to clinch his win. Not one to shy away from playing aggressive golf, van Rooyen took out his driver only to hit what he’d later describe as “probably the worst shot I hit all week.” The pull hook went into the trees left of the 18th fairway, but a fortuitous bounce sent his ball tumbling back into the fairway. From there, he hit a 7-iron approach shot to close range and converted a closing birdie to set a tournament record with 50 points.

“Yeah, massive break, especially on 18. But when it’s your day it’s your day,” van Rooyen said. “I got a really great bounce and sometimes you need a little bit of luck when you’re trying to win the tournament and today was my day.”

Van Rooyen’s win continues a six-year trend of the Barracuda Championship producing first-time PGA Tour winners. Going back to 2016, Greg Chalmers, Chris Stroud, Putnam, Collin Morikawa, Richy Werenski and now van Rooyen have all earned their first career PGA Tour wins at the Tahoe Mountain Club.

Van Rooyen’s win moves him up in the FedEx Cup standings from No. 139 to No. 78, safely inside the cut for the 125-man field for The Northern Trust at Liberty National two weeks from now. He’ll have a bit of work to do there to get inside of the 70-man field for the BMW Championship the following week.

But for van Rooyen, above all that, this win is a dream come true.

“I mean, it’s everybody’s dream to play here. And if you look at my career … started out in South Africa, won there. Won on Challenge Tour Europe. And now here, I’m over the moon.”

The post Erik van Rooyen wins first PGA Tour title in style, setting tourney scoring record appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.