He won this week’s Tour event. Then it all came pouring out for Erik van Rooyen

Erik van Rooyen had simply performed the most effective 9 holes of his life. A scorching back-nine 28 at Tiger Woods’ El Cardonal Golf Course, the final of which was a 25-foot eagle putt on the 18th gap to win the World Wide Technology Championship.

He raised his fist to the air, stoically, picked his ball out of the outlet and walked over to caddie Alex Gaugert, embracing him, the identical factor they did initially of the week.

Then all the pieces that this week was hit him.

“How were you able to be so calm when the stakes were the highest?” NBC’s George Savaricas started his post-round interview. Van Rooyen had made back-to-back-to-back putts from outdoors 20 ft to erase a two-shot deficit to Matt Kuchar.

Van Rooyen paused for what felt just like the longest 10 seconds ever. By the time his lips opened, there have been tears coming down his cheek.

“Sorry,” he lastly replied.

“I was calm because there’s bigger stuff in life than golf,” van Rooyen mentioned.

The 33-year-old was referring to his greatest buddy and former University of Minnesota teammate, Jon Trasamar. Trasamar has been battling Stage 4 melanoma for greater than a yr and whereas he hoped he had cleared it by late 2022, he hadn’t. According to reporting by Ryan French, after failing to make it out of the primary stage of Q-School final fall, Trasamar went for a follow-up, and it was found the most cancers had unfold to his ribs. Despite therapy and enchancment, one other journey to the physician this previous February revealed the most cancers unfold to his liver, again, backbone and legs.

Now, van Rooyen mentioned Trasamar has simply six to 10 weeks to stay.

This isn’t simply any buddy for van Rooyen, both. At 19, when he moved to the U.S. from Johannesburg to attend Minnesota, Trasamar and his household had been the primary to welcome him, proper on the airport. Trasamar’s household lived simply two hours from Minneapolis, they usually had been set to be roommates for their freshman yr.

They ended up residing collectively for three out of their 4 years on campus.

Sunday, 14 years later, van Rooyen was wrestling together with his buddy’s mortality.

“He’s not gonna make it,” van Rooyen instructed Savaricas off the 18 inexperienced, making an attempt to maintain himself composed. “Every shot out there right now was for him. And if you’re taking part in for one thing larger than successful some foolish trophy, it places issues in perspective.

“At the end of the day, whether I won here or I lost here, it really did not matter. When something motivates you like that, whether you make a putt or miss a putt, who cares?”

He paid no thoughts to the very fact he’s been taking part in this complete fall for his job. Van Rooyen came into the week ranked a hundred and twenty fifth within the FedEx Cup Fall standings, the bubble man to maintain his card when the season ends in two weeks.

But throughout the ultimate spherical, or all through all the week for that matter, van Rooyen hardly confirmed any signal of the load he was carrying.

Especially on the again 9, which he began 4 behind then-leader Camillo Villegas. Despite making 4 birdies in six holes, he was nonetheless two again of Kuchar as the ultimate trio made their strategy to the sixteenth gap.

Then van Rooyen put collectively a dream end, birding the par-3, including one other one at 17 after which, after beginning the 18th gap tied with Kuchar, striping a fairway wooden from 300 yards onto the par-5 inexperienced in two to arrange the successful eagle putt.

But he instructed Savaricas he was nonetheless hurting on the within all the time.

“It dragged me down,” van Rooyen mentioned of the circumstances. “After Friday’s round, I shot … eight under on Friday and I get to my hotel room and I just break down in tears, you know?”

The feelings had been overcoming him once more.

“So I wasn’t calm all the time, but when I step onto the golf course, I have a fricking job to do and that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day, do your job and, now we can celebrate and cry and do whatever you want.”

At his winner’s press convention, he mentioned all he needed to do was play 9 holes with Trasamar.

“And extremely selfishly, that puts all of this into perspective,” he mentioned. “Is it enjoyable to win golf tournaments? Yeah, it’s enjoyable. I’ve been taking part in golf since I used to be 8 years outdated, extraordinarily aggressive and we wish to win.

“But it doesn’t matter. When I’m — you already know, after I kick the bucket someday, every time that is perhaps, this isn’t what I’m going to be fascinated about.

“I’m going to be thinking about the people that I love the most, and Jon Trasamar is one of those people.”

A couple of minutes later, van Rooyen’s interviews had been over. The event was finished. A brand new week was beginning. On Monday, he’ll be in Minnesota. With a trophy.

With his greatest buddy.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf crew and lately returned to this system to function head coach. Jack additionally nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Before becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but additionally producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He will be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.