Who is Jon Trasamar and why did Erik van Rooyen dedicate his victory to him? All you need to know

Jon Trasamar is the best friend of Erik van Rooyen, who recently won the 2023 World Wide Technology. The South African golfer dedicaated his victory to his friend Jon, who's suffering from cancer.

Jon and Erik played golf together while studying at the University of Minnesota along with Alex Gaugert (Erik van Rooyen's caddie). They won the 2014 Big Ten Championship playing as a team. Trasamar finished third in singles.

Trasamar has been suffering from melanoma. He was in remission, but his cancer has now returned. Rooyen and Gaugret came to know about his cancer via text on Tuesday while competing at the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship.

While talking to the reporters, Rooyen made the revelation about his friend's health and said that every shot he played was dedicated to him. Rooyen also said that his friend would not be able to survive the cancer and that they would fly to Minnesota on Monday to meet him.

“There’s bigger stuff in life than golf," Rooyen said. "If you look at my ball … it has the initials ‘JT’ and it’s for Jon Trasamar, our best friend. He’s got melanoma, and he’s not going to make it."

"And every shot out there was for him," he added. "And when you’re playing for something bigger than some silly trophy it puts things in perspective, and at the end of the day whether I won here or whether I lost here, it really did not matter. Yeah, when something motivates you like that whether you make a putt or miss a putt, who cares?"

According to the PGA Tour, at the age of 19, Trasamar and his family met Rooyen at the airport when the latter came to America to study. They studied together for three years before Rooyen started his professional golfing career. Rooyen considers Trasamar as his brother.

Erik van Rooyen won the World Wide Technology Championship, guaranteeing him a berth in the PGA Tour for the next year. He finished in the top 125 of the FedEx Cup Fall standings and will be eligible to play on the Tour the following year.

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Erik van Rooyen's performance in 2023

Erik van Rooyen's performance in all four rounds of the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship was nothing short of extraordinary. In the opening round, he made two bogeys and six birdies for a total of 68. He scored 64 in the second round with eight birdies, an eagle, and a double bogey.

In the opening two holes of the third round, Rooyen made back-to-back birdies, then an eagle and a bogey. For a score of 66, he added three more birdies. Rooyen settled for a score of under 27 in the final round of the competition after carding eight birdies, one eagle, and one bogey.