The pace up front was so torrid that Erik van Rooyen’s two-under-par 70 in the final round of the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup @ Summit in Las Vegas saw him drop 15 places on the leaderboard to a share of 25th on Sunday.
In a solid week, Van Rooyen saw his world ranking stay at 52nd with rounds of 66-67-68-70, and his final total of 17-under-par was eight shots off Rory McIlroy’s 20th PGA Tour victory at 25-under-par. McIlroy carded a closing six-under 66 and held off a charge from Open champion Collin Morikawa who closed with a 10-under 66 to finish one stroke back.
Van Rooyen had four birdies and two bogeys in his closing round. He had a quiet opening nine, with a bogey on the fifth and a birdie on the eighth. He also bogeyed the 11th, and made birdies on 13, 16 and 18 to round out a good week.
Louis Oosthuizen finished in a share of 38th with a closing round of five-under 67, while Branden Grace had a final-round six-under 66 to share 68th on seven-under. Charl Schwartzel brought up the rear in the 78-man field on seven-over after Harris English withdrew during the final round.
In the PGA Tour Champions tournament, the SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina, Retief Goosen was the best-performing South African, finishing in a share of 30th on three-under after a closing one-over 73. He was nine shots out of the play-off between Lee Janzen and Miguel Angel Jimenez which was won by Janzen.
Ernie Els, who celebrated his birthday during the tournament, closed with a two-under 70 to go to two-under for the weekend and share 34th. David Frost withdrew after the first round.
