An exhausted Erik van Rooyen will play the weekend at Augusta National after a wind-swept second round of four-over-par 76 in the Masters as he moved into a share of 30th.
On a day on which Jon Rahm felt that winds were strong enough that play should have been suspended, Van Rooyen made just a single birdie while he made three bogeys and a double-bogey to add to his opening one-under-par 71. That put him at three-under, nine strokes behind the lead which was intriguingly shared by Bryson DeChambeau, world number one Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa.
“I feel like I got hit by a train just now,” said Van Rooyen after his round. “The wind is blowing way harder. Completely different direction. I mean, the amount of sand on the green on 18 is – the gusts blowing up that hole were crazy. Extremely gusty. For example, on hole 10, I had 171 yards to the hole which normally is a little eight-iron. Wind is out of the right, I’m trying to hit a soft seven to keep it under the wind, 175-yard seven-iron, and the wind turns, comes straight downwind and the seven-iron carries 190 over the green. I can’t explain that.
“I reckon these are by far the toughest conditions I have ever played in.”
But, as the only South African to make the cut – 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and the world’s leading amateur Christo Lamprecht missed out – Van Rooyen approaches the weekend with a lot of pride.
“It means an incredible amount,” he said. “I bleed for my country. I’m incredibly proud. South Africa is obviously in a sort of tough spot politically and economically, and for us to be here and play golf at the highest level and represent our country, I couldn’t be more proud.
“Whether I made the cut or have the honour of wearing the green jacket on Sunday or if I miss the cut here, I’ll always be proud.
“I think as a country, we’ve been through an extreme amount of hardship, regardless of your background, and I think that breeds people that are determined to get ahead in life. You can look at all the kinds of sports, whether it’s swimming in the Olympics or rugby, cricket, golf. We shine wherever we compete.
“I think it’s because of our upbringing. We always sort of feel like we’re behind the eight-ball and we’ve got something to prove, and that creates extremely competitive people.”
And although he is nine back, he’s not going to stop trying to be competitive. “I shot 28 in Mexico a few months ago, so I reckon if I’m within six or seven shots there’s always a chance,” he said. “On a day like today, I think it’s extremely hard to catch up, hence my disappointment in the few shots I left out there. But yeah, if I can be within a few shots of the lead, I’m definitely throwing my name in the hat.”
