MYRTLE BEACH CLASSIC

May 11, 2024

Erik Van Rooyen

Dunes Golf and Beach Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you assess your round and talk about the 60-foot putt.

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Obviously a little cherry on top, especially I feel like I gave myself a lot of chances on the back and didn't quite capitalize. That was a nice way to finish.

Q. Even before you made that putt, your putting stats this week were pretty strong. Thought you maybe left a few out there --

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, putting has been great all week. You look at the back nine, you've got 13 which is a beautiful opportunity, you've got 15, and you walk away with a bit of a sour taste in your mouth. But that's golf; it's a stupid game we play, and you make a 60-footer on 18. I'm playing great. That's all I can do.

Q. This is your first start since the Heritage. What went into the decision playing this week, leading right into the PGA?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, it's so tricky with the category I'm in. I've got to play my way into these elevated events, and I've been lucky enough to do so. I've played a lot of golf leading up to the elevated events, and then all of a sudden you get in and it's like you've got to continue playing and then you've got the majors coming.

I was sort of on the cusp of getting into Wells Fargo, and the decision was do I play Byron Nelson or rest and catch up on some sleep. So I took it off and obviously didn't sneak into Wells, but what a place this is. It's a fantastic golf course.

Yeah, the decision was to play golf heading into the PGA.

Q. Looking at the leaderboard right now, it's really you and I think Pat and maybe the first 13 guys on the board are the only ones with wins on TOUR. Going into tomorrow do you think that makes a difference knowing that you've been there, done that in a sense?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, that's definitely a comforting thought. As we're all aware, the Korn Ferry guys are hungry, as well, and I'm sure a few of them have won on the Korn Ferry, looking to get their first win on TOUR. I definitely wouldn't write any of them off. But there's 18 holes to go, and I've done it before, so I'll be okay.

Q. The finish last year in Cabo where you went 8-under, do you feel like that's always in your bag, that you're capable of doing that? You don't know when it's coming, but in a tournament like this, what kind of confidence does that give you?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, that's huge. I think every player feels like it's somewhere in the back pocket, but having done that before and having made the putts I did down the stretch knows that if I'm right thereabouts with six holes to play, it could get interesting if I make a few putts. Yeah, it gives me a lot of confidence.

Q. This is your first time on this golf course; you said you really like it. How does it fit your game?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: I think ball-striking has always been the strongest part of my game, and in the last year or two, putting has tagged along nicely. It's a golf course with undulating greens. Unfortunately we had some rain last night, so they're on the softer side, so you can kind of attack everything.

I told one of the members yesterday, if this course gets firm and fast with the greens being sort of upside down bowls - everything runs away on all sides - if you start tucking pins with rough and firm greens, it could play sort of like Bay Hill. It could be really, really tough.

I absolutely love this golf course. Like I said, I think it fits my eye from a ball-striking perspective.

Q. You had the two top-10 finishes back in February. Not quite as successful since then. Is there any particular reason or just the whims of golf?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Just the whims of golf.

Q. You feel like you've been playing as well as you were playing then?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, probably not -- Augusta, I feel like leading into Augusta I was playing quite well, and look, it's the first time I've made the cut there in the three times that I've been there. It's a tricky place to figure out, and I'm proud of that. But I was hoping to play a bit better. It's just the whims of golf.

I think if we look at someone like Scottie, there's a reason he's No. 1 in the world. Hats off to him. He's so consistent. We all want that. But golf is not that easy. He's making it look very easy.

Q. Does having two wins under your belt make a bigger difference on a course like this where there isn't the familiarity from having played here before?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, probably, but that said, by now everybody knows the golf course. Everybody knows where to hit it. I think that's part of the job being a pro golfer is figuring out come Thursday what to do.

Yeah, I think by now everybody is kind of on the same playing field.

Q. You've got a different caddie on the bag this week. Is that just related to the qualifying or is that going to be different moving forward?

ERIK VAN ROOYEN: Yeah, Feeley has got one or two things going on at home, so he couldn't make it this week. Obviously I saw he got through locals. It's interesting because I still have to qualify for the U.S. Open as of now, so we probably need to have a chat about how that's going to work out. But yeah, Ben Hulka is just on the bag for this week.