Erik van Rooyen holed from 15 feet for an eagle on the 18th to complete a closing 63; Van Rooyen's winning total of 27-under par was two shots clear of Camilo Villegas and Matt Kuchar; He dedicated the victory to former team-mate Jon Trasamar, who is suffering from cancer
Monday 6 November 2023 07:19, UK
South Africa's Erik van Rooyen produced a spectacular finish to win his second PGA Tour title in the World Wide Technology Championship.
Van Rooyen holed from 15 feet for an eagle on the 18th to complete a back nine of 28 at El Cardonal, the first course designed by 15-time major winner Tiger Woods to host a PGA Tour event.
A closing 63, which had started with a bogey on the first, gave van Rooyen a winning total of 27-under par, two shots clear of Camilo Villegas and Matt Kuchar.
An emotional Van Rooyen fought back tears in his post-round interview as he dedicated his victory to former college team-mate Jon Trasamar, who is suffering from cancer.
"I was calm because there's bigger stuff in life than golf," van Rooyen said.
"If you look at my ball there's music notes on there and the initials JT and it's for Jon Trasamar, our best friend who's got melanoma and he's not going to make it. Every shot out there today was for him.
"When you're playing for something bigger than winning some silly trophy it puts it into perspective. At the end of the day, whether I won here or I lost here it really did not matter.
"We love him so much and I'm still sort of in disbelief what he's going through and I wish I could take all his pain away. We're flying up to Minnesota tomorrow to go and see him on Tuesday morning and I'll give him a high-five then."
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