By John Huggan
He made hard work of it in the end, but there was no doubt that overnight leader Erik Van Rooyen was a deserving winner of the Scandinavian Invitation. Of course he was. There was a lot of pressure on the 15-foot downhill, right-to-left putt the 29-year-old South African made for a closing birdie, a one-shot edge over runner-up Matt Fitzpatrick and a first European Tour victory.

There was, however, also an element of relief Van Rooyen’s emotional reaction to his breakthrough at the highest level. Three shots clear, 19 under par and bogey-free for the first 16 holes of his final round over the Hills Golf & Sports Club just outside Gothenburg in Sweden, Van Rooyen, the 2017 Challenge Tour graduate looked to be an almost certain winner. Competitive golf is rarely that straightforward though. A three-putt bogey from Van Rooyen on the penultimate hole, combined with a brace of closing birdies from Fitzpatrick, the highest-ranked player in the field, left the University of Minnesota alum needing a seventh birdie of the day for a second successive 64 and that long-awaited first-place check.

It went in dead centre and set off some dramatic scenes around an 18th green that was all but surrounded by Swedish fans, all hoping for a Henrik Stenson victory. But that wasn’t to be. Stenson, a Gothenburg native who skipped playing in the FedEx Cup Playoff events in order to be in the field in Sweden, made a hole-in-one on the par-3 6th to briefly tie for the lead but played the next 12 holes in a relatively uneventful one-under-par. At the close the 43-year-old was 14-under-par and tied for third alongside another South African, Dean Burmeister.

“This is too good … hard to describe,” said Van Rooyen, who twice finished runner-up in this, his second season on the European Tour, in Qatar and Morocco. “I was so nervous on 18. I’d been putting so well all day. I’ve come close a bunch of times and every time I’m in contention the question gets asked on social media. My caddie was amazing today, as he has been since he took the bag in February. My job today was to hit one shot at a time and commit, which I did. I didn’t know where I was until 16. But I got it done. I’m proud of myself.”

So he should be. Winning is hard. And in claiming the 150th European Tour victory by a South African, he confirmed that fact more than conclusively.

The post South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen gets emotional after claiming first European Tour title appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Then, something terrible happened, the worst thing that can happen to a shot that’s hit too perfectly from one of the best players in the world. It hit the flagstick on the fly, ricocheting off the green and rolling into a collection area. “Not that right,” Fitzpatrick could be heard saying as he buried his head in his hands. The full sequence can be seen below (viewer discretion is advised):

That’s unbelievably unlucky for Fitzpatrick…#ScandinavianInvitation pic.twitter.com/KDVw1yHzmb

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 25, 2019

If it doesn’t hit the pin, it more than likely lands softly near the hole because of the ball’s trajectory, setting up a short birdie putt that could have gotten Fitzpatrick to six under on his round, 18 under for the tournament. But the absolutely brutal break led to a bogey, essentially a two-shot swing if we’re assuming he makes birdie.

Here’s where it gets really cruel. Had Fitzpatrick just made par on the 14th hole, that would have been enough to eventually get him in a playoff with Erik van Rooyen, who won the tournament at 19 under par. Fitzpatrick was able to recover from the bogey by going birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie to finish his round, but his six-under 64 was only enough to get him to 18 under overall, one shot out of a playoff.

The “what if” game is a dangerous one to play, especially in golf, where there are countless bad breaks and funny bounces throughout a tournament. But if Fitzpatrick wants to play it this week, we’ll allow it.

The post Watch the absolutely brutal break that cost Matthew Fitzpatrick the Scandinavian Invitation appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Six years after winning the FedEx Cup, Henrik Stenson will miss this year’s PGA Tour playoffs, which begin Thursday at the Northern Trust.

Though it was known since Friday when the field was announced that the Stenson, 43, wouldn’t be teeing it up at Liberty National, the reason was unclear until Tuesday. Stenson announced on Instagram that he was skipping the PGA Tour’s postseason so he could “practice and recharge [his] batteries” in his native Sweden before playing in the Scandinavian Invitation later this month.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01G398H1y2/?utm_source=ig_embed

Formerly known as the Nordea Masters on the European Tour, the Scandinavian Invitation is scheduled for Aug. 22-25—the same week as the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake, where $15 million will go to the season-long champ.

Stenson, who won two playoffs events, including the Tour Championship, on his way to capturing the 2013 FedEx Cup and a $10 million bonus, is 85th in points standings this year. He had to play this week at Liberty National to be able to qualify for next week’s 70-player BMW Championship.

The winner of the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon, Stenson has four top 10s in 18 worldwide starts in 2019 but no wins. His best finish on the PGA Tour was a T-8 at last month’s RBC Canadian Open.

Stenson isn’t the only golfer eligible to compete at this week’s Northern Trust who isn’t in the field. Paul Casey, who played last week at the Wyndham Championship and is eighth on the points list, took a pass to rest up for a run at the FedEx Cup at East Lake, and Sam Burns (broken ankle) and Rafa Cabrera-Bello (awaiting the birth of his daughter) are not in the field.

The post Henrik Stenson has an explanation for why he’s skipping this year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.