South Africa's Erik van Rooyen birdied two of the last three holes Sunday at the Barracuda Championship at Truckee, California, to emerge with his first career PGA Tour win.
van Rooyen carded a plus-16 in the final round at Tahoe Mountain Club's Old Greenwood Course, leaving him at plus-50 in the event's Modified Stableford scoring system.
Andrew Putnam wound up in second place at plus-45 and Scott Piercy took third at plus-44, both shooting plus-11 in the fourth round.
Third-round leader Adam Schenk came in fourth at plus-43 after a plus-5. Brandon Hagy rounded out the top five at plus-41 following the second-best round of the day, a plus-18.
Erik van Rooyen (+5000 outright) has won the Barracuda Championship and captured his first @PGATOUR title 👏
— GolfBet (@GolfBet) August 9, 2021
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Van Rooyen said of winning on the U.S.-based tour for the first time, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, "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."
The Modified Stableford scoring format encourages aggressive play. The objective is to finish with the highest score, with eagles worth five points, birdies worth two points and a par netting zero. Players are docked one point for a bogey and three points for a double or worse.
van Rooyen's final round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 eighth hole, when he drove the green and rolled in a short putt. He also had six birdies and one bogey.
The win will vault van Rooyen from 139th in the FedEx Cup points list to the 78th place, leaving him in excellent shape to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 125 following next week's Wyndham Championship will be eligible for the postseason.
The Barracuda Championship was played concurrently with the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Reuters