Johannesburg - South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen both completed tidy performances to finish in the top-20 at the Sony Open which ended in Hawaii on Sunday.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama defeated American Russell Henley in a playoff, after the pair ended the four rounds on 23-under.
Bezuidenhout, the top-ranked SA player in the field at 48th in the world coming into the week, ended in a tie for 17th on 14-under following rounds of 65 69 65 and 67.
The 27-year-old recorded 21 birdies for the tournament and just seven bogeys to complete an impressive showing in his first outing of 2022. However, despite his decent result Bezuidenhout dropped two spots to 50th in the world rankings released on Monday.
Van Rooyen, meanwhile, finished one stroke behind Bezuidenhout on 13-under. Van Rooyen compiled rounds of 66 68 69 and 64 to finish on 13-under.
The 31-year-old Van Rooyen started his final round slowly, playing the first five holes in one-over. Three birdies before the turn, though, steadied the ship as he added two more gains on the 10th and 11th. A closing eagle at the par five 18th helped Van Rooyen rocket up the leaderboard and into a tie for 20th.
In contrast to Bezuidenhout, Van Rooyen’s result helped him move up two spots in the world ranking to 63rd.
The two other SA players in the field, Branden Grace (70 69) and Dawie van der Walt (70 70) missed the cut in the low-scoring event.