Erik van Rooyen’s four-under-par 66 on Friday did his chances of progressing in the FedExCup Playoffs the world of good as he climbed into a share of 10th in the PGA Tour’s FedEx St Jude Championship at the halfway mark.
A bogey on the 17th probably cost him a chance of being projected to finish inside the top 50 – at this stage of the tournament – of the FedExCup rankings, which would have been a welcome sight ahead of next week’s BMW Championship in which only the top 50 play.
He’s currently projected to finish 52nd after he had made five birdies ahead of that dropped shot on the penultimate hole. He missed the green with his approach, and then, when he missed his par-putt from inside eight feet, ended up making that pesky bogey.
The lead was shared by American Denny McCarthy and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan on 11-under after rounds of 63 and 64 respectively. They led by one from Sam Burns, with world number one Scottie Scheffler lurking in fourth on nine-under.
The only other South African to make the Playoffs, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, also had a four-under 66. He was on four-under in a share of 20th in the 70-man field. He climbed 23 places on the leaderboard, and was projected to slip to 25th on the FedExCup rankings.
