Erik van Rooyen


Erik van Rooyen is a South African professional golfer currently playing on the European Tour. In 2017 he won the Eye of Africa PGA Championship and the Hainan Open while in 2019 he won his first European Tour event, the Scandinavian Invitation.

Amateur career

Van Rooyen attended the University of Minnesota 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, making a birdie at the first extra hole in a three-man playoff. 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.
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. 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.

Amateur wins

European Tour wins (1)

European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12019Turkish 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)

Sunshine Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12017Eye of Africa PGA Championship Dylan Frittelli, Makhetha MazibukoWon with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (1)

1Co-sanctioned by the China Tour

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Professional