After beating Brendon Todd 2&1 in Friday’s final group match, Erik van Rooyen knocked over Daniel Berger in a sudden-death playoff to advance to the knockout phase of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Van Rooyen lost his opening match on Wednesday but fought back with victory over Harris English on Thursday, setting up a deciding clash with Todd in round three.
The South African won the 3rd, 12th and 16th holes, before a par on the 17th sealed his victory over Todd.
It meant Van Rooyen and Berger had to return to the 1st tee as one of eight playoffs, the most in the tournament’s history.
The pair both made pars on the first playoff hole before Berger made bogey on the second, handing victory to Van Rooyen, who made par.
Despite losing his final group match against Will Zalatoris, Dylan Frittelli was the first player to qualify for Saturday’s round of 16.
He will face England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who knocked out Bryson DeChambeau on Friday, while Van Rooyen will tackle Jon Rahm in another difficult match-up.
There were also shock defeats for world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, who both failed to progress.
The Saturday stage is set. ?
Only ONE of the top seeds advances to the Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/ye87ylmSwR
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 27, 2021
