Erik van Rooyen 'Hates' PGA Tour Signature Event Qualifying Process

The South African qualified for next week’s Truist Championship with a second-place finish at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, but isn’t a fan of the PGA Tour’s signature event model.

Erik van Rooyen played his way into next week's Truist Championship with a second-place finish at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Erik van Rooyen finished second at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which got him into next week’s Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club, a PGA Tour signature event. 

Afterward, van Rooyen was asked about the qualification process for the signature tournaments—and he didn’t mince his words. 

“How honest do you want me to be? I hate it,” the 35-year-old South African said with a laugh. 

“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.”

The signature event model was implemented after the inception of LIV Golf, so all the top players compete against each other in the PGA Tour’s biggest events. Most signature tournaments have fields with about 80 players without a cut, ensuring everyone is guaranteed a payday. By contrast, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson had a 156-player field with only the top 65 and ties after 36 holes securing a weekend tee time. 

The regular tournaments, though, offer spots in the lucrative signature events via the Aon Swing 5 standings. That’s how van Rooyen, the world’s 101st-ranked player coming into the week, punched his ticket to Philadelphia. It will be van Rooyen’s second signature start this season (excluding the full-field Players Championship), but he wishes he had more. 

“I get that you’ve got the Scotties [Scheffler] of the world, the Rorys [McIlroy] of the world, and people want to see them, it’s entertaining,” van Rooyen said. “Like the PGA Championship coming up, for example, I think it’s the strongest field in the game, similar to [the Players Championship]. I love competing, so selfishly, I want to compete against those guys.”

Therefore, the two-time Tour winner isn’t about to give up his spot at the Truist Championship. 

“Good play needs to be rewarded,” the two-time Tour winner said after finishing at 23 under. “That’s part of why the PGA Tour is the greatest tour in the world. It’s so deep, it’s so strong. 

“But I think Rory always says it, ‘just play better.’”