South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen produced a magical round of golf on Friday to move within one shot of the lead at the WGC-Mexico Championship, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Van Rooyen carded nine birdies for a record-tying round of 62 to finish the day on 10 under par, which had him jump 12 spots from his overnight position following a one-under-par 70 on Thursday.
The 30-year-old went into the competition in 52nd place in the Official World Golf Rankings and is hoping to break into the top 50 to secure his spot at THE PLAYERS Championship, which gets under way in two weeks’ time.
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Van Rooyen, who mainly competes on the European Tour, is looking to stamp his authority on the PGA Tour this weekend after missing the cut at last week’s Genesis Invitational.
He will start the second half of the competition alongside Patrick Reed, who is in T2 with him.
Some birthdays are better than others. @FredVR_ had a pretty good one on Friday. pic.twitter.com/2GHVJxMSgL
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2020
However, for the title they will have to challenge Bryson DeChambeau, who grabbed the lead in the second round after also shooting a brilliant low round of 63 to conclude the day on 11 under.
DeChambeau is bidding to get his sixth win on the PGA Tour in what could be a pretty big year for him.
Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed finished the second round in T4 on nine under par, while World No 1 Rory McIlroy is a further stroke back in fifth spot.
Louis Oosthuizen went even par for the day and remained on three under for the competition.
Photo: Angel Castillo/Jam Media/Getty Images
