Erik van Rooyen made a 16-foot eagle putt on the par-5 closing hole Sunday to win the World Wide Technology Championship, a day after Matt Kuchar squandered a six-stroke lead with a late meltdown. Playing alongside Kuchar at Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante, van Rooyen played the back nine in 8-under 28 in a 9-under 63.
LOS CABOS, Mexico — Erik van Rooyen made a 16-foot eagle putt on the par-5 closing hole Sunday to win the World Wide Technology Championship, a day after Matt Kuchar squandered a six-stroke lead with a late meltdown.
Playing alongside Kuchar at Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante on the tip of Baja California, van Rooyen played the back nine in 8-under 28 in a 9-under 63. He finished at 27-under 261, two strokes ahead of Kuchar and Camilo Villegas. Van Rooyen won for the second time on the PGA Tour. The 33-year-old South African’s first victory came in the 2021 Barracuda Championship under the modified Stableford scoring system.
Kuchar and Villegas each shot 66, with the 45-year-old Kuchar parring the final four holes. Tied for the lead on 18, Kuchar — after van Rooyen and Villegas hit fairway-wood second shots near each other on the green — hit his approach left of the green and chipped 20 feet past the hole.
Van Rooyen opened play Sunday with a bogey on the par-5 first and made birdies on Nos. 2 and 6. In his back-nine charge, he birdied Nos. 10-12, 14, 16 and 17.