It’s only a matter of time before Erik van Rooyen wins on the European Tour as he joins nine other South Africans in the field for the Made in Denmark.
The top-performing South African at the 2018 Open and 2019 PGA Championship, currently in his second season on Europe’s top tier after graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2017, is enjoying a purple patch having finished no lower than tied 29th in his last five starts – including T8 at last week’s PGA Championship.
He has consistently remained a contender at the top of leaderboards, most recently at the Trophée Hassan II, where he led going into the final day before finishing two behind eventual champion Jorge Campillo. This week presents another good opportunity for the new World No 89 to claim that elusive first victory.
Van Rooyen won’t have it easy with the presence of Matt Wallace in the field.
The defending champion is in red-hot form with a runner-up at the Betfred British Masters, and a third-place finish last week in his most recent two starts. The Englishman also has a formidable record in Denmark to cap his four-man play-off win last year.
The pair form the marquee group with home favourite Lucas Bjerregaard off at 8:10am.
Lee Westwood, defeated in last year’s play-off, forms an all-Ryder Cup group alongside Belgium’s Thomas Pieters – a winner here in 2016 – and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, who start their first rounds at 1:20pm.
Dean Burmester, George Coetzee, Jaco van Zyl, Louis de Jager, Darren Fichardt, Haydn Porteous, Zander Lombard, Justin Walters and Jacques Kruyswijk complete the SA contingent.
