The PGA TOUR announced today that Erik van Rooyen has accepted Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season. A native of South Africa, van Rooyen is now eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season as he attempts to earn his PGA TOUR card for the 2020-21 season.
At No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking, van Rooyen has made 10 starts on the PGA TOUR in 2019-20, highlighted by a career-best T3 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February. Van Rooyen, who has played six of the eight weeks since the PGA TOUR returned, entered last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational needing 29 non-member FedExCup points to secure Special Temporary Membership and finished T20, good for 46 points.
To earn full status on the PGA TOUR for the 2020-21 season, van Rooyen must earn as many or more points through the non-member FedExCup points list as No. 125 in the 2019-20 season FedExCup standings. Van Rooyen currently has 305 points, and for reference, that would fall between Nos. 105 and 106 in the current FedExCup standings. No. 125 (Chase Seiffert) currently has 254 points.
Van Rooyen is in the field at this week’s PGA Championship following a T8 at the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage State Park Black Course, his best showing in four major appearances. The 30-year-old has three worldwide victories, most recently winning the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation on the European Tour. Van Rooyen played collegiately at the University of Minnesota before turning professional in 2013.
In May, the Korn Ferry Tour announced modifications to the 2020 schedule and a fall calendar of events that would be part of a one-time, combined 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season. The adjustments resulted in the loss of a graduating class via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, and pushed the next available Qualifying Tournament to 2021. In turn, non-members paths to the PGA TOUR for the 2020-21 season are through the non-member FedExCup points list or a victory on TOUR.
Special Temporary Members are not eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs, but Special Temporary Members or non-members who subsequently become regular PGA TOUR members by winning an official event during the season will be counted on the FedExCup points list, along with any FedExCup points earned as a non-member (excluding those won at World Golf Championships events as a non-member) and thus be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs.
PGA Tour Release, Aug 04, 2020
