Erik van Rooyen SA’s best as Thomas Pieters claims narrow win in Abu Dhabi

Johannesburg - South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen fired a final round two-under 70 to finish in a tie for 12th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, at Yas Links, on Sunday.

Van Rooyen ended on five-under for the week, five behind Belgian Thomas Pieters who claimed a one-shot victory ahead of Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello and India’s Shubhankar Sharma.

The 31-year-old Van Rooyen began the day in 22nd position, but quietly went about his business to move up 10 spots on the leaderboard. In fact, it was a steady day out for Van Rooyen as he managed three birdies and just one bogey in the difficult scoring conditions.

Dean Burmester and Justin Harding both finished on three-under in a tie for 25th. Burmester was the biggest mover of the SA players on day four, rocketing 19 positions up the leaderboard with his three-under 69. Harding moved in the other direction in the final round, with his two-over 74 dropping him down 14 places.

Charl Schwartzel also had a frustrating round, with his four-over 76 seeing him fall down 28 places to a tie for 39th on one-under for the tournament. The 2011 Masters champion Schwartzel’s scores for the event had a fair bit of symmetry to them with five-under (67) to open, followed by a four-over 76, then a four-under 68 and finally a four-over 76 to conclude his work for the week.

"I just hope all the juniors are watching this back home." @Thomas_Pieters hopes to have inspired all the young golfers back in Belgium 🙌#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/9gcT8xOjod

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 23, 2022

Justin Walters finished 48th with a one-over 73, and also one-over overall. SA Open champion Daniel van Tonder ended tied 68th on seven-over, while Brandon Stone was two strokes behind on nine-over in 72nd position.

@Golfhackno1