The Golf Central crew recaps Round 1 of the Mexico Open at Vidanta, highlighting the stellar play of Erik van Rooyen who finished atop the leaderboard at 8 under. van Rooyen discusses the growing state of his game and the best part of his play on Day 1. #GolfChannel #GolfCentral #PGATour
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Takeaways from Round 1 of Mexico Open, Erik van Rooyen’s performance | Golf Central | Golf Channel
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Callaway hi there I’m Todd Lewis thank
you so much for taking up with us here
on our YouTube channel I’m with Jim
Gallagher Jr five-time winner on the PJ
tour day number one of the Mexico open
at Vidant in the books lot of good
scoring today and none better than Eric
Van Roy and the South African who just
celebrated his 34th birthday on W
Wednesday and what a way to celebrate on
Thursday here he is on the par for third
yeah this one 33′ 7 in and he buries it
it also the fourth and he’s two under
through his first four holes now on the
par five 12 this is his second shot with
an iron of course and it’s from 264 with
an iron I’m going to repeat that with an
iron and he’s leaning he’s
begging he begged just enough carries
just onto the green Nestles up there
close Nice Shot there
and so he would make that for Eagle he’s
four and apart now the drivable par 47
yeah I like his golf swing right here
this hold playing 290 maybe a little bit
downhill a lot of players trying to use
the slope over on the right see if
they’ll kick it towards the
grain fans are cheering the butterflies
are flying Nice Shot there it would two
put and get to five under par move now
to the par three n oh this would be a
big birdie if he makes that that’s
29 yeah 29 is opening nine now Jump
Ahead to the par 5 12 this from just
below the green yeah hit it over the
green at 10 made a great save there now
the Chip Shot here this is moving oh it
it it’s in yeah it’s my kind of day all
right yeah gets to eight under par wood
bogy the 15th but makes up for it here
on 18th yeah this is where you want to
have a chance to finish it off it’s a
great day today right in the middle of
the hole
and Eric Van royan from South Africa who
won in Mexico last fall winning the
worldwide
technology in
Cabo and that helped him Advance on the
A on next 10 and playing the first two
Signature Events in 2024 I mean TAA
Green Spot on miss one Fairway just two
greens put it okay but still I mean if
he if he putted just a little better who
knows what this number could have been
but 63 great round for him and here’s
what he had to say after that
number Eric great playing uh once again
in Mexico which seems to be one of your
favorite places on the globe why is that
why does Mexico bring out some of your
best golf is it the wind is it the grass
I I don’t know um if I think about
chipot to pick a few years ago the WGC
we had there was kakuyu grass Ben F I
mean Ben grass greens that’s what I grew
up on a little bit different here it’s I
don’t know what it is it’s going to be
the food the people um the whole shebang
you celebrated a 34th birthday yesterday
happy birthday how do you assess kind of
where you are some people say the
mid-30s is kind of The Sweet Spot of a
player’s career I’d like to think so I
feel like I’m stepping into my best golf
um had a few injuries the last few years
and I’m finally healthy and and good
golf starting to show up so I like to
think the best golf is still ahead of me
um I told my wife yesterday that you
know next year I’m 35 I’m closer to 40
then I I’m 30 so I’m going to enjoy 34
for now what was the best part of your
game today as the win to pick up as the
end of the round came to a close yeah
probably iron play um hits it
beautifully all day uh there’s a couple
t- shots that you have to navigate out
here 10 comes to mind I did that really
well
um greedily I feel like I left a few out
there but then again a shot like six the
three head into that part five turned
out great like I’m not planning to hit
it to six feet to that flag you know so
but a give and take and golf and and
really happy with the round how much fun
was 12 first of all the second shot you
hit over that par tree and then of
course the eagle chip to take us through
those two shots in particular um yeah 12
is a funky one cuz we played it into the
wind in the practice round and and you
obviously can’t get there for two so
today was downwind smash Freewood and
just a beautiful little pitch you know
it’s something I’ve been working really
hard on and to see that go in it feels
good and how about uh what was your read
on that Chip Shot uh probably pretty
pretty straight to be honest you know
there’s a bit of a g to go over and then
the pins on on a different one so I
tried to fly right in between them and
and it rolled straight in so yeah best
of luck tomorrow thank you
cheers all right have about some other
action from day number one here’s MJ
Duffy started off on the back here he is
after making the turn on the par for a
second and I really like his gos sng
this from 144 yards and he’s going to
love this shot right here spins it back
nearly all the way into the hole Taps
that in gets to four under now on the
par for third for birdie yeah back into
the wind which is usually a little
slower up this slope and this ball is
moving D knocked the flag stick out of
the hole Yeah gets to five underw add
another he shoots an opening ground 65
six under par Sammy valaki from Finland
on the par 3 17 one of the top 10 from
the DP tour world or DP tour trying to
come in there take advantage of this
week did finish with 64 at Phoenix and a
good solid shot there at the par 317
with birdie there and get to four under
par now at five under balamaki on the
par for first hole after making the turn
for birdie right off the water little
exposed but he stays steady on this one
nicely done
there get to six under when add another
shoots a 64 Henrik norlander on the par
39 this is T he’s had himself in
contention he’s trying to get that win
but he’s trying to play out he’s playing
out that 126 150 category so big week
for him and well played shot there 186
yards yeah he finished at 600 as well
yeah he finished 12 FedEx Cup standings
one out of being a full member all right
here he is David lipsky on the 450 and a
good finish here in 2022 and a long
range putt there left from 33 ft get him
to four you think that’s impressive it
was impressive watch this one on 17 I’m
watching this some 67 ft so my mask
correct just over twice as
long come on Todd he didn’t do it did he
yeah he did oh gosh kidding me all right
I mentioned Val by the way lipsky
shooting a 665 I mentioned valami going
64 7 under par here’s a other one he
added
he just drills this one on the reachable
par for yeah a lot of guys even slope to
the right but he’s going right at it as
I mentioned he had a great final round
at Phoenix and a beautiful shot right
there now you got to pay it off putter
was working that’s dead in the heart
yeah he has an eagle
bear and shoots that 60
4 so we take a look at this leaderboard
it is Van royan leading the way right
now Val Mike after that 64 interesting
story lines Chris Ball dels Salah shot a
57 on the Corin Fury tour a couple of
weeks ago got a sponsor invite he’s in
the mix I mentioned lipsky he’s one on
the Asian tour the sunshine tour the
corn fairy tour the DP World Tour yet to
went on the PGA tour mention orlander
126 in the FedEx Cup standings and Duffy
there at 6 under as
well
all right so we got some low numbers
here dat one in Mexico I’m I’m thinking
the conditions might get a little
tougher as we move for not to mention
the pressure of inexperienced when it
comes to winning on the first page of
that leaderboard if you’re trying to win
for the first time like Duffy or valamu
what is your mindset right now after
this strong opening day well you know
it’s just the first day and you know
it’s a long week and I think that’s the
hardest thing is is trying not to get
ahead of yourself and you try to
simplify things and you get trying to
stay in your routine stay in the process
that’s my advice to it you if you can
get in the zone which we all talk about
that’s hard to do but you know you you
go back to when youve won maybe as a kid
maybe in college or or on the corn fairy
tour you go back to those moments that
feeling it feels like but it’s too early
to get ahead of yourself you got plenty
of time to do but I think for the helps
the guys you got to be aggressive this
week because you know the scores are
going to be low the wind does pick up in
the afternoon it wasn’t as strong as
maybe it’s been in the past years but
the golf course is soft and these guys
are taking advantage of those condition
and that is so hard when you desperately
want to win on the PGA tour you get off
to this great start you you naturally
I’m holding the trophy know it is so
hard to not think about that and stay in
the process but we will see how these
young players do by the way you
mentioned uh sunshine in the forecast
for the first time this entire PGA Tour
season we do not have rain in the
forecast any day so we are not expecting
any weather delays or any delays for
that matter it is a beautiful Resort mad
we are so fortunate to be here
stay with us
here
