Erik van Rooyen drained an eagle putt at the par-5 18th hole for a come-from-behind win at the World Wide Technology Championship on Sunday in Los Cabos, Mexico.
The native of South Africa fired an 8-under 28 on the back nine to overtake the field and post a 9-under 63. He recovered from an opening bogey to make eight birdies on the day — six coming on the back nine.
van Rooyen and Matt Kuchar came to the 18th tee tied for the lead at 25 under, with Camilo Villegas of Colombia (24 under) rounding out the threesome. van Rooyen was the first to play his second shot and nestled it up on the green from a makeable range. Villegas landed just inside van Rooyen’s ball, while Kuchar missed left.
After Kuchar pitched onto the green, van Rooyen, who made 25-foot birdie putts at Nos. 16 and 17 to draw even with Kuchar, was first to putt and swept it straight in, allowing him to escape his playing partners’ reach at 27-under 261. Villegas settled for birdie and Kuchar for par, tying them for second at 25-under 263.
The win will vault van Rooyen from No. 125 to No. 63 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, making him all but a lock to retain his card for next year. It’s his second career PGA Tour win; he won an alternate-field event, the Barracuda Championship, in 2021.
The tournament was played at El Cardonal at Diamante, the first Tiger Woods design to host a PGA Tour event.
–Field Level Media