Golf

Erik Van Rooyen’s good form pays off with win in Gothenburg

Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan slipped backwards on a difficult final day for the Dubliner

Erik Van Rooyen of South Africa celebrates winning on the 18th hole during day four of the Scandinavian Invitation at The Hills Golf and Sport Club in Molndal, Sweden. Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Sun Aug 25 2019 - 18:25

South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen was “over the moon” after making a birdie on the final hole to win his first European Tour title in the Scandinavian Invitation.

Van Rooyen carded a closing 64 at Hills Golf & Sports Club to finish 19 under par, a shot ahead of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who had birdied the 17th and 18th to also post a 64.

Home favourite Henrik Stenson, who held a share of the lead after making a hole-in-one on the sixth, finished in a tie for third with South Africa’s Dean Burmester after both men shot 66. Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan who began the final round in a tie for third but plummeted down the leaderboard after shooting a 74.

The Donabate player ended up finishing in a tie for 47th after his four over par final round, missing out on an opportunity to make a much-needed move up the Race to Dubai rankings. Moynihan now sits 153rd with two months to go before the top-110 retain their cards.

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Van Rooyen began the day with a one-shot lead and looked to be in control after six birdies in his first 13 holes, but crucially bogeyed the 17th after Fitzpatrick birdied the same hole.

Fitzpatrick, who won this title in 2016, also birdied the last to draw level on 18 under but Van Rooyen held his nerve to birdie the last for the fourth day running, holing from 12 feet for the win.

“It’s too good, it’s hard to describe,” Van Rooyen told Sky Sports. “I was so nervous on 18. On 17 I was fine I just didn’t hit that (par) putt hard enough and then I asked (his caddie) Alex (Gaugert) ‘what are we at’ and he told me Matt went birdie-birdie.

“I’ve been putting so well all day and to hole that one to win, it’s my first one, it’s pretty cool.

“I’ve come close a bunch of times and every time I’m in contention the question gets asked, I get messages on social media and I’ve got to credit to Alex, he was unbelievable today.

“I didn’t know where I was at until 16. I thought I had a three-shot lead and I knew when I made bogey on 17 it was going to be tight. I’m just so proud of myself and Alex and everybody — over the moon.”

Fitzpatrick was unfortunate to see a superb approach to the 14th rebound off the pin and roll off the green, leading to his first bogey of the day.

The former Ryder Cup player bounced back to birdie the next but also dropped a shot on the 16th before piling the pressure on Van Rooyen with two closing birdies.

“I didn’t put a foot wrong, I didn’t really miss a shot,” said Fitzpatrick, who has now been a runner-up three times this season. “I hate to say it but I had no luck out there.

“I’m really comfortable with where my game is at, another second place, so hopefully we’ll have one better later this year.”

Collated final scores & totals in the European Tour Scandinavian Invitation, Hills Golf & Sports Club, Gothenburg, Sweden (British unless stated, par 70):

261 Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 65 68 64 64

262 Matthew Fitzpatrick 64 65 69 64

266 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 66 72 62 66, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 62 69 66

267 Sihwan Kim (Kor) 66 68 68 65, Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 67 69 68 63, Jamie Donaldson 69 68 63 67, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 62 71 65 69, Alexander Levy (Fra) 63 71 66 67

268 Andrew Johnston 70 70 63 65, Sam Horsfield 69 70 67 62, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 74 66 64 64, Victor Perez (Fra) 68 65 69 66, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 63 69 71 65, Matthew Southgate 65 72 64 67

269 Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 70 69 66 64, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 74 64 67 64, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 70 68 64 67, Gavin Green (Mal) 66 67 71 65

270 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 69 63 70 68, Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 69 71 66 64, Andy Sullivan 74 65 66 65, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 70 69 64 67, Paul Waring 68 71 66 65, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 67 67 72 64, Ashun Wu (Chn) 67 64 67 72, Thomas Detry (Bel) 72 66 63 69, Renato Paratore (Ita) 72 67 67 64

271 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 68 69 66, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 67 67 67, Matthew Nixon 70 69 66 66, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 70 66 69 66, Ryan Evans 71 68 69 63, John Catlin (USA) 66 69 66 70, James Morrison 66 68 71 66, Aaron Rai 70 70 66 65, 272 Jeff Winther (Den) 73 65 68 66, Jack Singh Brar 71 68 66 67, Borja Virto (Spa) 69 70 66 67

273 Kristian Krogh Johannessen (Nor) 68 69 70 66, Alex Noren (Swe) 72 67 67 67, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 68 72 65 68, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 69 69 66 69, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 67 70 69 67, Lee Slattery 69 70 67 67, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 70 67 70 66

274 Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 69 67 64 74, Stephen Gallacher 70 67 67 70, (a) David Nyfjall (Swe) 67 72 67 68, Kalle Samooja (Fin) 67 68 72 67, Austin Connelly (Can) 67 73 64 70, Bradley Dredge 68 70 67 69

275 Chris Wood 72 68 66 69, Deyen Lawson (Aus) 72 67 70 66, Per Langfors (Swe) 69 69 67 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 67 71 68 69, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 71 69 69 66, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 68 71 65 71

276 Ivan Cantero Gutierrez (Spa) 69 66 68 73, Tom Lewis 69 71 68 68, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 68 70 67, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 69 71 68 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 70 68 68, Paul Peterson (USA) 70 67 69 70, Henric Sturehed (Swe) 72 67 68 69

277 Ben Evans 73 67 68 69, Hyo-won Park (Kor) 67 71 70 69

278 Zheng kai Bai (Chn) 73 64 69 72, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 67 70 69 72

279 Robert Rock 68 66 69 76, Max Orrin 71 69 69 70

280 Max Schmitt (Ger) 69 69 71 71

281 Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 68 70 73

284 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 67 73 69 75