Gotterup Leads Van Rooyen, 2 Others by 4 at Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Chris Gotterup kept the pedal to the metal Saturday. The 24-year-old former University of Oklahoma All-American led the Myrtle Beach Classic by a single stroke after shooting 66-64-130 in the first two rounds at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club. In the third round, he made five birdies on the back nine -- plus two on the front -- on the way to a 6-under-par 65, which put him at 195 (18 under) for 54 holes and increased his lead to four.

Erik Van Rooyen, 34, the former University of Minnesota star from South Africa who has two victories on the PGA Tour, squandered a couple of birdie chances on the back nine, but he made four birdies on the front side, and he holed a 44-foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole. That gave him a 65, and he's now part of a three-way tie for second place at 199.

It appeared that Van Rooyen would end the day alone in second, but then Jorge Campillo birdied lthe last three holes, and Robert MacIntyre birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. Those late birdie binges turned ho-hum rournds into reasonably good ones and got them both to 14 under for the tournament (199) -- and into a tie with Van Rooyen. Campello shot 67, MacIntyre 68. Davis Thompson posted a 67, and he's alone in fifth place at 200.

Van Rooyen, who has made a little more the $8.2 million on the PGA Tour, and more than $10 million in all, if you count what he's made on the European and South African tours, should probably be a little closer to the lead going into Sunday's final round. Gotterup is No. 2 on the PGA Tour's list of the longest hitters in 2024, with an average of 315.8 yards per drive. Nevertheless, it was Van Rooyen (No. 65 on the driving distance list, with 300.5 yards per drive) who was in better positions lying two on both of the two back-nine par 5s. At the 609-yard 13th, Van Rooyen was chipping from just under 80 feet, but he missed the birdie putt from 8 feet. At the 15th, he was just under 80 feet once again, chipped to 15 feet and missed that one, too.

Gutterop, a former Division I college player of the year who is in his first season on the PGA Tour, was 30 yards from the cup in two at the 13th, and got it up and down for his birdie. And after hitting a wayward drive and making a bogey at the par-4 14th hole, he was 40 yards short in two at the 15th. But he got up and down for another birdie there, as well, and he drilled a 17-footer at the 18th to cap off his round with a birdie.


Myrtle Beach Classic

At The Dunes Golf & Beach Club

Par 71, 7,347 yards

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Third-round results

1. Chris Gotterup 66-64-65--195

T2. Erik Van Rooyen 67-67-65--199

T2. Jorge Campello 66-66-67--199

T2. Robert MacIntyre 64-67-68--199

5. Davis Thompson 65-68-67--200

6. Alex Smalley 68-65-68--201

T31. Troy Merritt 68-71-67--206