Erik van Rooyen wins for first time on PGA Tour at Barracuda Championship

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Make it six straight years for a golfer to get his first win on the PGA Tour at the Barracuda Championship.

Erik van Rooyen is the latest to pull off the feat, scoring  16 points on Sunday at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Golf Course. He finished with 50 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system for the four-day tournament, a tournament record. Geoff Ogilvy won with 49 points in 2014.

Van Rooyen, 31, from Bellville, South Africa, took the lead on the back nine Sunday over past Barracuda champion Andrew Putnam. They were tied again briefly, then van Rooyen made a birdie on No. 16 for 2 points and the lead. He added a birdie on No. 18 and had five on the day, along with a bogey and an eagle.

Van Rooyen, who played college golf at Minnesota, was No. 139 on FedEx Cup rankings going into the Barracuda. He picked up 300 points in the rankings with the win and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

Van Rooyen has won three times in international events, but winning on the PGA Tour is special.

“It’s everybody’s dream to play here. And if you look at my career, started out in South Africa, won there. Won on Challenge Tour Europe. And now here, I’m over the moon,” he said.

Van Rooyen had missed six out of the previous seven cuts going into the Barracuda. He said remaining patient was key to his win.

“It’s been a difficult sort of 18 months for me golf-wise. I haven’t been playing well. There’s been glimpses of it the last six months. But I haven’t been able to put four good rounds together,” he said. “So I was well aware of the position I was in going into the playoffs, knowing that I’ve only got eight rounds left to make that cut. And to win here this week, I mean, under the conditions, you know, the pressure that I was under, I’m going to take so much confidence from this.”

He had some good luck on No. 18 to close out his round.

“When it’s your day it’s your day. Probably it was the worst shot I hit all week. I got a really great bounce and sometimes you need a little bit of luck when you play to win the tournament and today was my day,” van Rooyen said.

Van Rooyen, who became a father one month ago to daughter Valerie, is the third South African to win on the PGA Tour this season.

“Only been with her for a week. … I was gone right after she was born for the Open and then 3M, was home for a week and now here. This one goes to my awesome wife and little Valerie,” he said.

Aside from a couple blips, Andrew Putnam was solid all week. He won the Barracuda in 2018 and was second this year with 45 points, picking up 11 on Sunday.

Putnam got out to a great start Sunday, going birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie.

“Just kind of hit the brakes and stalled out a bit. And just didn’t get it to happen those last few hole,” Putnam said. “Starting off like that, you feel like it could be your day. Tried not to get ahead of myself too much. But just stalled out a little bit and still a great week.”

Putnam had missed three straight cuts going into the Barracuda. Despite that, Putnam said he has been playing well.

“I’m typically a great scorer and get the ball around really well. So it was kind of an anomaly for me,” Putnam said. “I expected to play well even though it hasn’t been my best streak the last couple of months. In the past when I played bad it was obvious I wasn’t playing well.”

Scott Piercy was third with 44 points, followed by third-round leader Adam Schenk at 43.

Piercy won at Montreux in 2011 when it was called the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Schenk played with van Rooyen on Sunday in the final pairing.

“It was a lot of fun. It was unfortunate I didn’t have my best stuff (Sunday). I didn’t play good enough to win. He made a lot of putts, didn’t really make many mistakes. And he just deserved it more than I did, for sure,” Schenk said.

Past champions

In addition to Putnam and Piercy, there were three other former Barracuda champions playing on Sunday.

Gary Woodland, who won at Montreux in 2011, had a bogey-free round on Sunday when he scored 12 points. He finished with 38.

It was the first time he played at Old Greenwood and he said the altitude took some getting used to. The course sits at about 6,000 feet above level.

Woodland, 37, was 119th in the FedEx Cup standings going into the Barracuda.

Greg Chalmers, who won at Montreux in 2016, finished with 27 points, tied for 34th place.

Richy Werenski, the tournament’s defending champion, finished tied for 59th with 19 points.

Scoring format

The Barracuda is played in a modified stableford format. Players earn eight points for a double eagle, five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie, no points for a par, minus one point for a bogey and minus three points for a double bogey or worse.