Before Phil Mickelson took the 103rd PGA Championship by storm, Erik van Rooyen took his club to a tee box marker at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.
Van Rooyen was having a rough stretch late in his back nine during the second round last Friday with a bogey on No. 14, a double bogey on 15, another bogey on 16. It was after a poor tee shot on the 17th hole that he simply lost it, taking a swipe at one of the tee box markers. Marshalls can be seen flinching as if they were going to get hit by something.
For most, that would have been it, but after taking three steps, van Rooyen turned around and took another lash at the marker. This one took the club head off his shaft and made a caddie recoil out of the way.
Former #Gophers golfer Erik Van Rooyen just went full Happy Gilmore at the PGA Championship.
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) May 21, 2021
Van Rooyen took a triple-bogey 6 on the hole. It was the third straight 6 on his scorecard. He later missed the cut.
On Wednesday, he took to Twitter to issue an apology, calling his actions “unacceptable” and “totally out of character.”
— Erik van Rooyen (@FredVR_) May 26, 2021
