Emotional Erik van Rooyen breaks down on live TV to dedicate PGA Tour golf win to terminally-ill best friend

ERIK VAN ROOYEN broke down on live TV as he dedicated his PGA Tour win to his terminally-ill best friend.

The South African golf star claimed victory at the WWT Championship in Mexico on Sunday.

PGA TOUR

Erik van Rooyen was emotional after winning the WWT Championship[/caption]

PGA TOUR

He dedicated the win to his terminally-ill best friend Jon Trasamar[/caption]

PGA TOUR

Van Rooyen’s ball had Trasamar’s initials written on it[/caption]

Van Rooyen, 33, had other stuff on his mind other than the win as he revealed the difficulties he had recently learned of.

The golfer’s best friend, Jon Trasamar, had been given less than ten weeks to live after being diagnosed with melanoma.

Trasamar was has been friends with Van Rooyen and caddie Alex Gaugert since playing college golf at the University of Minnesota and had previously been in remission.

However, just days before the WWT Championship, Van Rooyen and Gaugert was told that Trasamar’s cancer had come back and spread through his body.

After sinking the winning put, Van Rooyen and Gaugert embraced each other and broke down in tears.

The golfer then admitted that the victory was put into “perspective” and that it “did not matter” because of Trasamar’s condition.

An emotional Van Rooyen said: “I was calm because there’s bigger stuff in life than golf.

Jon Trasamar was told he only has weeks left to live

“If you look at my ball there’s music notes on there and the initials JT and it’s for Jon Trasamar, our best friend who’s got melanoma and he’s not going to make it. Every shot out there today was for him.

“When you’re playing for something bigger than winning some silly trophy it puts it into perspective. At the end of the day, whether I won here or I lost here, it really did not matter.

“We love him so much and I’m still sort of in disbelief what he’s going through and I wish I could take all his pain away.

“We’re flying up to Minnesota tomorrow to go and see him on Tuesday morning and I’ll give him a high-five then.”

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Van Rooyen dedicated the win to Trasamar[/caption]

There was more emotion for Van Rooyen in the following press conference.

He was asked if Trasamar had been watching, to which he revealed that they had already been in communication with each other.

He also admitted that he wants to play one more game with his buddy even thought he acknowledged that it was “selfish”.

He said: “I hope he’s watching. We’ve texted.

“I’ve just told him how much I love him and how much I miss him.

“All I want is to go play nine holes with him somewhere. Extremely selfishly, that puts all of this into perspective.

“Is it fun to win golf tournaments? Yeah, it’s fun. I’ve been playing golf since I was eight and I’m extremely competitive and we want to win.

“But it doesn’t matter. When I kick the bucket one day, this is not what I’m going to be thinking about.

“I’m going to be thinking about the people I love the most – and Jon Trasamar is one of those people.”