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In January of this year while competing at the SA Open at Randpark Golf Club, Erik van Rooyen received a special invitation to make his debut at the Masters in early April.
Thanks to his Top 50 world ranking, Van Rooyen earned his way into the select field for arguably golf's most prestigious Major at Augusta National.
Coronavirus | Van Rooyen believes the PGA Tour is 'starting too soon'
However, the unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic put a sudden halt to Van Rooyen's dream.
Augusta National has identified 12-15 November as their intended dates to host the tournament following the outbreak of Covid-19.
Van Rooyen had had a stellar 2019/20 season up to that point, becoming the second-highest ranked South African golfer in the official World Golf Rankings.
"I was disappointed on a personal note when tournaments got cancelled because I was playing some really good golf and building up to Augusta," the 30-year-old told Sport24 via a video meeting on Wednesday.
"It's definitely crazy... but we can always restart and kick on where we left off so hopefully things take place in the second half of the year."
Van Rooyen added that he couldn't see the Masters being played without its patrons, a situation that has been mooted.
"I'm hoping that we living in a world that this virus isn't as potent and that we're able to have the Masters with people and crowds there because that's part of what makes that special," he said.
This year's Masters tournament will be played outside of April for the first time in the event's history, which began in 1934.
"The Masters has never been hosted in that time of the year (November) so conditions might be completely different. I don't know if it'll be more windy or less or if it'll be more rainy because we are heading into a colder season," added Van Rooyen.
"I'm just looking forward to getting there."
Is it April yet? ???????? pic.twitter.com/RDc0KgN3pZ
— Erik van Rooyen (@FredVR_) January 9, 2020
