LOS CABOS, Mexico — Erik van Rooyen made a 16-foot eagle putt on the par-5 closing hole Sunday to win the World Technology Championship, a day after Matt Kuchar lost a six-shot lead with a late meltdown. won the championship.
Van Rooyen, playing alongside Kuchar at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal in Diamante at the tip of Baja California, had a 9-under 63 and an 8-under 28 on the back nine. The 33-year-old South African finished on 27 under par. He hit .261 for his second PGA Tour win, two strokes ahead of Kuchar and Camilo Villegas.
“It’s a funky game and it’s never over until the fat lady sings,” Van Rooyen said. “No. I owe you 18 kinds. Before today I was down 18 with two overs.”
Kuchar and Villegas each shot 66, with the 45-year-old making par on his final four holes. Kuchar, tied for lead on No. 18, hit his approach to the left of the green after Van Rooyen and Villegas hit their second shots with fairway woods close to each other on the green, chipping 15 feet past the hole.
“I’m pretty disappointed,” Kuchar said. “We’ve got a great opportunity to win a golf tournament, and the goal is to win a golf tournament. But I’ll hold my head high. Eric played some great golf.”
On Saturday, Kuchar had a six-shot lead at 24 under when he ran into deep brush on the left-hand 15th hole and made a quadruple-bogey 8. He then bogeyed the par-3 16th hole and ended up tied for the lead with Villegas.
“I thought I played a really good 71 holes,” Kuchar said. “At the end of the day, I knew that was the difference. I had to play well for 72 holes here. I just had to jump up and catch it once.”
Van Rooyen started Sunday with a bogey on the first par-5 and birdied the second and sixth.
“Going 6-1 left a sour taste in my mouth,” said Van Rooyen, who won the 2021 Barracuda Championship under the modified Stableford scoring system. “Then you wear down 35-, 40-foot guys with two, and you’re like, ‘OK, we’re fine.’ This is a stupid game, so just keep playing.”
Charging on the back nine, he made birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 14, 16 and 17, finishing with an eagle.
“The situation on the back nine suddenly changed,” van Rooyen said. “I had a great birdie on the 10th, almost holed out on the 11th, and a nice 13-foot, 14-foot shot on the 12th. If the breakers on the left and right hit you in the heart, you can hit the ground running. Just try your best. I made some great putts on the 16th, 17th and 18th.”
Justin Suh shot a 65 to take fourth place at 24 under, followed by Andrew Putnam (62) and Ryan Palmer (64) at 22 under.