Erik van Rooyen took advantage of an early start and the more benign weather on Friday and raced to a seven-under-par 63 which saw him climb into a share of 17th in the DP World Tour’s and PGA Tour’s Genesis Scottish Open.
Van Rooyen made an eagle and five birdies without dropping a shot at the Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland, and he raced 106 places up the leaderboard as rain squalls in the afternoon made conditions more difficult in the afternoon for some of the players who were trying to catch the leaders.
Van Rooyen reached five-under-par through 36 holes, which was five shots off the lead which was held by Rory McIlroy, who couldn’t buy a putt on his way to a second-round four-under-par 66. He led by one from Koreans Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An, and England’s Tyrrell Hatton. Hatton, like van Rooyen rode his luck with an early tee-off time helping him to an eight-under 62 which was the low round of the day.
Van Rooyen’s eagle came from a 326-yard drive on the par-five 10th, and approach of 267 yards to inside 14 feet and a successful putt. He closed out his scoring for the day on the 17th with a 44-footer for birdie.
Garrick Higgo was a shot back from Van Rooyen on four-under for the tournament after he posted a second-round card of one-under 69. The two players who came over from the PGA Tour were the only two South Africans to make the cut.
Oliver Bekker missed by one together with Christiaan Bezuidenhout after the pair finished on one-under. Thriston Lawrence slipped to a 73 in the second round to finish level-par, and Zander Lombard was on two-over. Ockie Strydom was on four-over, and Dylan Frittelli was on nine-over. Justin Walters retired during the second round.
