Erik van Rooyen could only finish runner-up to Scottie Scheffler as he cruised to his first title of 2025 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
However, the eight-shot deficit that brought the South African his best placing since he won the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship came with a significant benefit - a place in next week’s signature event, the Truist Championship.
That’s because of the Aon Swing 5, a competition that rewards players who have accumulated the most FedEx Cup points in full-field tournaments with a place in the next signature event. For his finish at TPC Craig Ranch, van Rooyen collected 300 FedEx Cup points, which was enough to see him earn his spot at the last opportunity.
Following the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where van Rooyen also won over $1m in prize money, he admitted that he hadn’t been aware he could qualify for the Philadelphia Cricket Club tournament by finishing runner-up.
He said: “Yeah, I didn't know. We were about to go home. My mom and dad are in from South Africa, so we were going to go home and relax a bit. That's a fun problem to have. Looking forward to playing golf there. I love the golf in that part of the world. I don't know much about the golf course yet, but yeah, again, it's a good problem to have.”
While van Rooyen will take his place among a select group of PGA Tour stars in the field, who will each claim a share of the $20m in the no-cut event, the 35-year-old didn’t hold back his feelings on qualifying for it.
“How honest do you want me to be?” he asked. “I hate it. I strongly believe that the strongest fields are the ones with the most players in them. The guys on the PGA Tour are so good. It's so deep.
“I get that you've got the Scotties of the world, the Rorys of the world, and people want to see them, it's entertaining. Like the PGA Championship coming up, for example, I think it's the strongest field in the game, similar to The Players. I love competing, so selfishly I want to compete against those guys. Again, really proud of playing my way into it.”
Despite his misgivings, van Rooyen admitted being rewarded for his efforts with a place at the event was a positive. He said: "Yeah, 100 percent, it is a good thing. I think good play needs to be rewarded. That's part of why the PGA Tour is the greatest tour in the world. It's so deep, it's so strong."
Along with van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Sam Stevens, Michael Thorbjornsen and Rasmus Hojgaard will also take their places at the Truist Championship thanks to the Aon Swing 5, although one player who will be missing is Scheffler, who has opted to skip the event, which comes one week before the PGA Championship.
