South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen, who won the 2021 Barracuda Championship this past Sunday, has highlighted how he looks up to SA’s current leading golfer, Louis Oosthuizen.

Van Rooyen recently claimed five-shot win over runner-up Andrew Putnam of the United States at the Old Greenwood Course in Truckee, California, for his first victory on the US PGA Tour.

Van Rooyen joins Garrick Higgo and Branden Grace as winners on the PGA Tour this season. The last time three South Africans won in the same season on the PGA Tour was in 2010 with Tim Clark, Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen.

“Garrick has got such a bright future ahead of him. He’s played exceptional golf the last two years. And Louis obviously is someone I’ve always looked up to,” Van Rooyen commented. “And I played a lot of golf with him the last year or so. Ever since my wife and I moved back to the US we live nearby each other.

“Louis is so good on the golf course. And the way he handles himself, his calm demeanour, his patience – it’s really something I took away from him. We all know he’s a fantastic ball-striker, but the way he handles himself, that’s something I wanted to copy. And it’s something I look up to.

“And I think as a whole we are quite motivated in general. Ernie, for me at least, was really the one that set the tone from a South African perspective. Obviously, Gary Player and guys before him. But Ernie and Retief were really the eras that I look up to. And they set the tone for us and there’s so many great players coming through at the moment because of that.”

Van Rooyen also paid tribute to his wife Rose and daughter Valerie.

“My wife’s been my rock. She’s been absolutely amazing. And she’s been pretty much a single parent for three of the last four weeks, ever since we had Valerie. Her parents were with her when I was playing the British Open, but I’ve been gone three out of the four weeks. So, as I mentioned earlier, this goes out to my wife, Rose, and little Valerie.” – PGA Tour/Sunshine Tour

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