Erik van Rooyen finished in a share of 13th place on Monday in the Players Championship as he closed out the weather-affected ‘fifth major’ with a two-under-par 70.
His five birdies and three bogeys saw him climb seven place on the leaderboard to a tournament total of six-under-par, which put him seven shots behind the winner, Cameron Smith of Australia. Smith carded a closing six-under 66 to win by one from 54-hole leader Anirban Lahiri of India who finished with a 69. Paul Casey was one shot further back in third, and Americans Kevin Kisner and Keegan Bradley were in fourth and fifth respectively.
Ban Rooyen got things going quickly with successive birdies on the opening two holes, but he dropped a shot on the third when he pushed his tee-shot on the par-three way right, and wasn’t able to get up and down for par. He made another bogey on six when his tee-shot on the par-four ended up in the fairway bunker on the left. His approach from the sand was short, and he two-putted from six feet. His final bogey came on the par-five ninth, when he hacked it along the left side of the fairway before reaching the green in four and two-putting.
Louis Oosthuizen closed with a four-over-par 76 and ended up in a share of 42nd on two-over. Dylan Frittelli had a two-under 70 to climb into a share of 50th on level-par, while Branden Grace signed for a one-over 73 and finished one-over for the tournament in a share of 53rd.
