Tag Archives: PGA Championship

Rafael Campos Earns His First PGA Tour Title with Bermuda Championship Victory

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It’s a memorable PGA Tour first for Rafael Campos.

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican professional golfer notched a three-shot victory in the Bermuda Championship on Sunday, joining the late Chi Chi Rodriguez as the only Puerto Rican players to win on the PGA Tour.

Rafael Campos,Campos had always dreamed of being a PGA Tour winner. He never could have imagined when it would happen and just how much it would mean.

Campos had missed five straight cuts and was in danger of not having a card on any tour. Campos arrived in Bermuda about 90 minutes before his tee time to start the tournament, having been unsure he could even play until his pregnant wife had labor induced and gave birth their to first child on Monday.

No wonder he felt like he was living a fairy tale Sunday.

He hit all the right shots, none better than a 2-iron to 2 feet on the par-5 seventh during a surge that sent him to a 3-under 68 victory.

“I just can’t believe this is actually happening to me,” Campos said through sobs when he was interviewed on the 18th green.

Campos, in only his second full year on the PGA Tour, was No. 147 in the FedEx Cup with time running out — the season ends next week — to get into the top 125 and keep his card. That’s what was causing so much stress inside the ropes.

And then Paola Isabel was born on Monday, giving Campos peace and perspective.

“It has been a surreal week,” he said. “I’m just extremely happy to be a champion and not have to worry about where I’m going to be playing the next couple of years.”

He’s going places he has never been. Campos has never played in a major. Now he’s going to the Masters and the PGA Championship. The victory gives him full status on the PGA Tour through 2026.

Campos won by three shots over Andrew Novak, who shot 71 for his best PGA Tour finish. Novak pulled within two shots when Campos missed an 18-inch par putt on the 14th hole. Campos was not rattled until he lost control of his emotions after the final putt.

“It’s been an unbelievable week — best week of my life,” he said. “Such a bad year, and to have things go my way — everything together at once — I’m just so happy. I’m grateful to call myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s something I’ve dreamt about my entire life.”

Campos, who finished at 19-under 265, earned $1.242 million and a two-year exemption, which might be more valuable considering how hard it has been to just get on tour over the past decade. Campos gets into The Sentry to start the year at Kapalua, along with the Masters, the PGA Championship and the Players Championship.

He was tied with Novak to start the final round, and both were passed quickly by Justin Lower, a runner-up last week in Mexico.

That changed when Campos worked the wind flawlessly, setting up a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 6 and the eagle on the next hole. And it changed for Lower, who four-putted for double bogey on the par-3 eighth and never quite recovered.

Campos used his imagination in hitting shots through the wind, and it paid off on No. 10 when his shot rolled out to 18 inches for birdie, and on the next hole when he rammed in another birdie putt from 15 feet.

Then it was a matter of finishing in conditions so windy and tough that even short putts were being blown off line. Campos didn’t take a wrong step aside of the 18-inch putt he missed.

A few friends rushed onto the 18th green to spray him with bubbly, and he took a swig to celebrate a week he never imagined.

“It’s been such a bad year ballstriking wise,” Campos said. “This game is so hard when things aren’t going well, so hard to actually get yourself to be confident. Things have just been so different this week. I just don’t know. I’m just so grateful.”

Camilo Villegas Wins Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Late Daughter’s Memory

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It’s a bittersweet victory for Camilo Villegas.

The 41-year-old Colombian professional golfer has ended a long and emotional drought after coming up with key birdies down the stretch on Sunday for a 6-under 65 to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Camilo VillegasIt’s Villegas’ his first victory since losing his 22-month-old daughter to cancer in 2020.

Villegas went shot for shot with Alex Noren for five hours until all he had left was a tap-in for par for his first PGA Tour title since 2014.

He stood erect, lightly pumping his fist, and then looked skyward before Latin players rushed onto the green to celebrate. Villegas grabbed one bottle of bubbly and took a swig.

More than going nine years without winning, Villegas and his wife coped with the death of Mia, who died of brain cancer in the summer of 2020. Villegas was lost on the course and finished last year at No. 654 in the world.

Now he has a two-year exemption and returns to the Masters and PGA Championship for the first time since 2015. His wife began a foundation in Mia’s name, and their son, Mateo, was born in December.

“It’s tough to put into words right now. Wow, what a ride, man,” Villegas said. “I love this game. This game has given me so many great things, and in the process, it kicks your butt. Life has given me so many great things and in the process it kicks your butt, too.”

He look skyward again and said, “I’ve got my little one up there watching.”

Villegas finished at 24-under 260 to win by two shots over Noren, who never recovered from two mistakes around the turn and closed with a 68.

Villegas split time between the Korn Ferry Tour and whatever events he could get in on the PGA Tour, neither with much success. He kept grinding on his game and then watched it come together at the right time.

He was a runner-up last week in Mexico. He was a winner in Bermuda, his fifth tour title.

Noren, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, went 48 consecutive holes without a bogey until he made back-to-back bogeys at the turn. The Swede went from a one-shot lead to a one-shot deficit, and he never caught up.

Noren hit his wedge to 7 feet on the 15th, only for Villegas to hit the top of the pin and have the ball settle a foot away for matching birdies. Both missed good birdie chances on the par-3 16th along the ocean.

The turning point came at the par-5 17th, which played into the wind for the final round. Noren came up short and left below the green and played his pitch to low and strong, the ball running through the green onto the fringe. Villegas went into the bunker and quickly blasted out to about 18 inches for birdie. That became a two-shot lead when Noren missed his birdie putt.

He felt small consolation that Villegas simply outplayed him. Noren also could appreciate the joy Villegas felt from the hand life has dealt him.

“My wife is close to his wife and I know what he’s been through, and it’s terrible what happened to him and his family, so I’m so happy for him,” Noren said. “I’ve got kids of my own and I can’t imagine. So I’m very, very happy for him and the way he played and the way he’s handled his life after. It’s remarkable.”

Garcia & Justin Rose Top Leaderboard with One Final Round to Go at The Masters

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Sergio Garcia is one day away from snapping his title drought at a major tournament…

The world will be watching Sunday at Augusta National as the 37-year-old Spaniard tries to fend off Masters co-leader Justin Rose, chasers Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth and his own demons to end his 0-for-73 streak in golf’s four most coveted events.

Sergio Garcia

It seems like a century ago that Garcia burst onto the scene as a 19-year-old, battling Tiger Woods shot for shot at the PGA Championship only to fall a stroke short.

He’s had other opportunities at the Masters, the Open Championship, the PGA and U.S. Open. Garcia has finished second in majors four times, placed in the top 10 22 times.

After coming up short in the 2012 Masters, Garcia famously told Spanish reporters he wasn’t good enough to win a major.

He gets the chance to erase his own words on the National’s hallowed grounds in a final round that will certainly not be a day of rest. He and Rose go off in the final group at 2:45 p.m. EDT.

“It was hard but it was fun.” Garcia said Saturday after posting a 2-under-par 70 for a 210 total. “It was fun to play well again, to go through a Saturday at the Masters with a chance at winning, and, you know, to be up there going into tomorrow.”

Garcia looks fit for a green jacket, shaping shots and escaping trouble. He made four birdies and played the back nine two shots under par to set the stage. He and Rose are the only players in the Masters field not to shoot a round over par through 54 holes.

The seemingly star-crossed Garcia even got some fortuitous bounces in Round 3, most notably on the 510-yard, par-5 13th hole. His approach shot wafted weakly over a Rae’s Creek tributary, slid down the hill and miraculously stopped short of the drink. He chipped off the steep bank within a foot, tapped in for birdie and again stands on the brink of a major breakthrough.

“I’ve definitely had some good breaks throughout all three rounds,” Garcia said. “Thirteen was obviously was one of them. I didn’t feel like I hit a bad shot. Obviously I hit a good drive that went into that little first cut of rough, and unfortunately ‑‑ I was hitting plenty of club, but it was one of those things that the ball just came out really soft.  I had enough club to carry on that line, and unfortunately it didn’t.

“But fortunately for me, that bank seems to be a tiny bit longer this year, which is nice.  Because, you know, it gives you the possibility of getting a break like that, and then, you know, I still had to hit a great chip to make 4.  It wasn’t an easy chip.“