BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 29, 2021

Erik Van Rooyen

Caves Valley Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Erik, what was your mindset when you arrived here at the golf course today knowing what you had to do?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Honestly, I was pretty relaxed and playing with K.H. helped. I really enjoy K.H.'s company, and great player in his own right. I was pretty relaxed. I didn't have anything to lose. It was either go to Atlanta or go home to see my wife and my baby, so it was a win-win either way. Got off to a flier, and I'm stoked to be here.

Q. Take us back to the first tee Thursday of the Barracuda --

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Whoa, that's a long time ago. Feels like yesterday (laughing).

Q. Describe that player versus that player right now.

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: A player knowing what he's capable of but struggling to find his feet and searching for a little bit of confidence. Now it's almost completely flipped. I'm absolutely cruising and I'm playing some of the best golf I've ever played consistently. It's a great place to be.

Q. To make it to the TOUR Championship, where does that rank in kind of the list that golfers seem to set for themselves?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, it's a fantastic place to be. Obviously it's my first full year on the PGA TOUR, and it was a goal of mine to get there. Like we just said, six weeks ago or so I wasn't even sniffing it. Just really proud of myself. It's probably the best of the best that make it to Atlanta, and really happy to be part of the group.

Q. Getting to East Lake, you also get the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Were you aware of that, and --

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, I was aware of it. Yeah, it's amazing. My first Augusta that I played or the first Masters that I played, I had to withdraw on Friday with a back injury, so I've just really wanted to go back there and give it another go. I'm pretty positive I'm going through to Atlanta next week, so that would be a blessing.

Q. As K.H. is going through the drop and over there by that creek, you obviously had a lot of time to think about that putt. What was going through your head, and how were your vitals at that time? What was your heart doing?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: It actually calmed me down a little bit, just that five minutes or so that we had. I was pretty jacked up hitting that second shot and probably needed to calm down a little bit. That five minutes was actually ideal. It wasn't such a long putt, but knowing kind of what's on the line, your intensity raises up a little bit, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

Q. Are you able to keep track of sort of what's on the line in terms of the top 30 and how quickly it changes?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, you're super able if you want to. There's scoreboards just about on every green. The key is to kind of forget about that and play good golf. If you're constantly thinking about, ooh, where am I going to be, what's this guy doing, what do I need to make, you're probably not going to play great, so trying to put that in the freezer, that's kind of the key.

Q. Obviously you see what happened with K.H. on the last hole and you know firsthand the pressure he was under. What's it like sort of seeing his approach shot bounce off the water?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, I'm sad for him. I think he might have been on the cusp or probably still is or something like that. I'm sad for him because he battled really well that back nine with his birdie on -- was it 14, 15, and then one on 17.

That'll sting, and I know what that feels like. But he's a phenomenal player. He'll be okay.