Since less than a year ago, precisely after the Mexico Open at Vidanta, he missed seven consecutive cuts in the PGA Tour, weighed down by injuries, Erik van Rooyen (-8) began a slow but effective recovery that, after a couple of top 10s and three more results among the top 25, ended up leading him to the second victory of his career on the American circuit. He won in November at the World Wide Technology Championship, beating Matt Kuchar and Camilo Villegas in a three-way playoff to dedicate the title to a close university friend, who was going through a serious health problem and died shortly after.
A triumph that allowed him to play the Sentry of the champions in January (tied 22nd) and propelled him to continue with his good feelings and notable results, such as the 25th place in the American Express and the 20th in the Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, a tournament elevated with high competition. This week, he has continued with his great level of play, standing alone at the top in Vidanta Vallarta, after signing a simply brilliant first round, with two eagles, five birdies and a single bogey for a total of 63 strokes, one less than the Finn Sami Valimaki (-7), his immediate pursuer in the classification.
Celebrate 34th birthday yesterday, hold the solo lead @MexicoOpenGolf today.@FredVR_ embraces the growth in his game. pic.twitter.com/Ad2ihN1Pga
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 23, 2024
The South African, who turned 34 yesterday, has been practically infallible from the tee (12 streets out of 13), has been the second best player on the course in greens in regulation (16 out of 18) and the second best in strokes gained approaching the green. He has not needed to be among the most prominent in distance or even among the top 30 with the putter to place himself at the top of the table. And he has managed to open a small gap over players like David Lipsky (-6), Henrik Norlander (-6), Cristóbal del Solar (-6) or MJ Daffue (-6), who share third place.
Notable names from the ‘field’ such as Cameron Champ (-5), Thorbjorn Olesen (-5), who comes from winning the DP World Tour, or Matt Wallace (-5) have not been able to keep up with Van Rooyen‘s blistering pace, despite starting the tournament on the right foot, like the Spaniard Jorge Campillo (-4). Who will have to look for the comeback practically from the beginning if he wants to have options to revalidate the title he achieved last year in this event is Tony Finau (-2), who is already six strokes in just 18 holes.
