Erik van Rooyen will lead the four-strong South African contingent as the PGA Tour, short of a few star names, heads to Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Van Rooyen starts as the top-ranked local player to watch just ahead of Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Both players are in the States looking to earn their cards during the restart.
The former has a MC and T21 to his name while Bezuidenhout is tipped, by the bookies at least, to be SA’s top performer ahead of Van Rooyen. He arrives in Detroit with a T28 at the RBC Heritage and a matching missed cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
First out this week is Branden Grace, who made the cut at Colonial but sat out the weekend at the Travelers, alongside Brian Gay and Sam Burns in a field that is the weakest of the four events since the resumption of the tour’s activity.
Charl Schwartzel, T41 at the Travelers and a missed cut last week, completes the Saffa quartet looking to keep pace with the bulked-up Bryson DeChambeau, who tees off as the favourite after his strong start.
American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed and world No 6 Webb Simpson are likely contenders. Simpson returns after his RBC Heritage win and a week off after a family member tested positive for coronavirus. Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are other star names to watch.
Tee times
1st tee
| Tee time (ET) | Players |
| 6:45 a.m. | James Hahn, David Hearn, Cameron Davis |
| 6:55 a.m. | Ben Martin, Zac Blair, Doc Redman |
| 7:05 a.m. | Jamie Lovemark, Robby Shelton, Scott Harrington |
| 7:15 a.m. | Keegan Bradley, Ryan Armour, Jimmy Walker |
| 7:25 a.m. | Andrew Putnam, Troy Merritt, Jason Dufner |
| 7:35 a.m. | Kevin Na, Grayson Murray, Tony Finau |
| 7:45 a.m. | Lanto Griffin, Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox |
| 7:55 a.m. | Scott Stallings, Lucas Glover, Rory Sabbatini |
| 8:05 a.m. | Tom Hoge, Richy Werenski, Xinjun Zhang |
| 8:15 a.m. | Brian Harman, Bronson Burgoon, Scottie Scheffler |
| 8:25 a.m. | Adam Hadwin, Emiliano Grillo, Bo Hoag |
| 8:35 a.m. | Wes Roach, Michael Gligic, James Nicholas |
| 8:45 a.m. | Dominic Bozzelli, Ben Taylor, Kurt Kitayama |
| Noon | Chesson Hadley, Ryan Blaum, Henrik Norlander |
| 12:10 p.m. | Seung-Yul Noh, Ricky Barnes, Tim Wilkinson |
| 12:20 p.m. | Jonathan Byrd, Wyndham Clark, Harry Higgs |
| 12:30 p.m. | Viktor Hovland, Wesley Bryan, Harold Varner III |
| 12:40 p.m. | Matthew Wolff, C.T. Pan, Vijay Singh |
| 12:50 p.m. | Brendon Todd, Bubba Watson, Jason Day |
| 1 p.m. | Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama |
| 1:10 p.m. | Luke List, Patrick Rodgers, Shawn Stefani |
| 1:20 p.m. | Matt Jones, Michael Thompson, Arjun Atwal |
| 1:30 p.m. | George McNeill, Talor Gooch, Sepp Straka |
| 1:40 p.m. | Rob Oppenheim, Kramer Hickok, Doug Ghim |
| 1:50 p.m. | Mark Anderson, Vincent Whaley, Peter Kuest |
| 2 p.m. | Peter Uihlein, Brandon Hagy, Zack Sucher |
10th tee
| Tee time (ET) | Players |
| 6:45 a.m. | Chris Kirk, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Maverick McNealy |
| 6:55 a.m. | Bill Haas, Josh Teater, Adam Schenk |
| 7:05 a.m. | Branden Grace, Brian Gay, Sam Burns |
| 7:15 a.m. | Tyler Duncan, Pat Perez, Greg Chalmers |
| 7:25 a.m. | Kevin Tway, Michael Kim, Austin Cook |
| 7:35 a.m. | Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Brandt Snedeker |
| 7:45 a.m. | Webb Simpson, Nate Lashley, Rickie Fowler |
| 7:55 a.m. | Charl Schwartzel, Peter Malnati, Cameron Tringale |
| 8:05 a.m. | Bo Van Pelt, Lucas Bjerregaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout |
| 8:15 a.m. | Aaron Baddeley, Beau Hossler, Roger Sloan |
| 8:25 a.m. | Kyle Stanley, Robert Streb, Joseph Bramlett |
| 8:35 a.m. | Hank Lebioda, Nelson Ledesma, Will Gordon |
| 8:45 a.m. | Chase Seiffert, Kristoffer Ventura, Chandler Phillips |
| Noon | Brian Stuard, Scott Brown, J.J. Spaun |
| 12:10 p.m. | John Senden, Sam Ryder, Matt Wallace |
| 12:20 p.m. | Cameron Percy, Seamus Power, Erik van Rooyen |
| 12:30 p.m. | J.T. Poston, Martin Trainer, Si Woo Kim |
| 12:40 p.m. | Kevin Chappell, Danny Willett, Steve Stricker |
| 12:50 p.m. | Sebastián Muñoz, Kevin Kisner, Aaron Wise |
| 1 p.m. | Ted Potter, Jr., Hudson Swafford, Luke Donald |
| 1:10 p.m. | Matt Every, Roberto Castro, Alex Noren |
| 1:20 p.m. | Chris Stroud, Fabián Gómez, Mark Hubbard |
| 1:30 p.m. | Johnson Wagner, D.J. Trahan, Rafa Cabrera Bello |
| 1:40 p.m. | Ryan Brehm, Tyler McCumber, Chris Baker |
| 1:50 p.m. | Tom Lewis, Michael Gellerman, Sahith Theegala |
| 2 p.m. | Sebastian Cappelen, Rhein Gibson, Donnie Trosper |
Photo: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images
