Perhaps one of the fun quirks at the British Open is waking up early on a weekday, prior to coffee and commute, to consume links golf en masse and try to calibrate what’s gone on overnight. Almost always, there’s an unfamiliar name up near the top — at least for casual fans.
Who is Erik Van Rooyen? Meet one of the early leaders at The Open
If you’re waking up and calibrating yourself for The Open at Carnoustie, you’re probably spotting a name unfamiliar to most American golf fans. ROW THE BOAT THROUGH BERRY BURN.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
After a birdie-birdie-birdie stretch on his closing nine at dried out Carnoustie, American Kevin Kisner holds the early lead this morning with a 5-under-par 66 round to set the early pace. But the name just one behind might be unfamiliar to those stateside, unless, say, you’re a close follower of Big Ten golf.
European Tour rookie Erik Van Rooyen held the lead for the majority of the wee hours this morning, before a bogey at the last and Kisner’s run dropped him to solo second. The 28-year-old South African’s making his major championship debut this week — one hell of a start for someone so green on golf’s biggest stage. He’s just one year removed from Europe’s Challenge Tour where he toiled for a few years — the European equivalent to the Web.com Tour. His win at the Hainan Open on that circuit last season helped him get the bump to the Euro big show.
Still, Van Rooyen’s not totally out of nowhere — and might still ring a bell with a few golf diehards here, or a few Minnesotans. I had him slated 75th and gave him a shoutout as one to watch in our field rank, as he’s coming off a near miss at the Irish Open two weeks ago. The 28-year-old held a four-shot lead at Rory’s event before falling apart a bit down the stretch Sunday. Fair to give a guy a pass for what was no-question the most tense afternoon walk of his life. Battling a tough field down the stretch in Rolex Series event’s a bit different animal than, say, trying to beat Shubhankar Sharma at the Joburg Open.
Oh, and yeah, can you Row The Danged Boat right through Berry Burn? Van Rooyen’s a 2013 Minnesota grad, so his performance should headlines in the Twin Cities. Wondering how you recruit a kid from South Africa to play golf in Minnesota? Uh, well:
Of course, he’s not the only Gopher in the field this week at Carnoustie — Tom Lehman won this event 22 years ago in 1996.
I stand at the ready to add the soon-to-come PJ Fleck #RTB shoutout tweet to this piece.
See More:
