Cameron

Champ

The big hitter arrived on the heels of six straight missed cuts but he had good vibes at this week’s host venue. Champ twirled a T6 at Vidanta Villarta last year in his tournament debut and found similar success this week. The Texas A&M alum gained 4.8 strokes off-the-tee (4th) and 5.1 strokes on approach (9th). Even with a top 10 this week, he is just 126th in the FedExCup race. This is an encouraging sign for Champ, though, and there are plenty of events sitll on the schedule for him to make up lost ground after a slow start to the season. This goes in the books as his 11th career top 10 in 112 PGA TOUR events played.

The big hitter twirled a T6 finish last year at the Mexico Open. He entered that week fresh off a T10 at the 2022 Masters. His lead-in play is not so appealing this time around. Champ has missed the cut in six straight events with an 8th-place finish at the ZOZO Championship being his lone payday this season (13 starts). A relatively large percentage of his cuts made end up being top-20 finishes but it’s hard for gamers to trust him at this point in the season, given his run of recent missed cuts.

Champ limped to the finish line with missed cuts in 11 of his last 14 starts to end 2022. He was able to take advantage of the good weeks, turning all three paydays into top-20 finishes. The California native will now head to La Jolla for his fifth attempt at the Farmers, arriving with two missed cuts, a 16th, and 46th-place finish. He has the length to tame Torrey Pines but the rest of his game will have to show up to the party, as well.

Champ has gotten progressively better each of the three rounds at the Zozo Championship, highlighted by a bogey-free 64 Saturday that lifted the three-time Tour winner to 10 under and a tie for fifth. Champ made four birdies to go along with an eagle on the par-5 sixth, and he heads into the final round four shots behind Rickie Fowler who, like Champ, is playing this week on a sponsor exemption in the 78-man event. Champ missed plenty of cuts, including six of his last eight starts, but he usually makes the most of his chances to get in the mix. The other two results in his recent stretch both went for top-20 results, and he appears poised to tally something even better this week as he looks for his first top-10 finish since a T-6 showing at the Mexico Open in April.

The big-hitting Texan split just half of the 14 fairways but still managed 14 GIR while playing from the rough. His putter was the key weapon today, though, as he sprinkled seven birdies with five of them converted from outside of 10 feet. That includes a 35'1" birdie blast at the 18th. He walked off the course gaining 2.7 strokes putting (6th in the field). Champ has his TOUR card locked up for another season thanks to winning the 2021 3M Open but at 141st in the FedExCup race, he needs to finish strong if he wants to crack the upcoming FedExCup Playoffs.

After opening with 67-66-67, the 26-year-old began T2, two back of overnight leader and playing competitor Rahm, and outpaced one, 3-putt bogey at 15 (from 50'5") with five birdies, but unfortunately, took seven swings at the par-4 eighth to derail his title bid. On nine (of 13) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, he gained 0.969 strokes off-the-tee but lost ground in all other SG metrics, including a -0.341 on approach and -0.950 around-the-green. For the festivities, the California native totaled 23 birdies versus six bogeys and the aforementioned triple, and ranked No. 1 SG: OTT (5.864) and 4th SG: Putting (6.754), despite a -0.137 SGP in R4, but 45th ARG (-0.319) and a lowly 63rd APP (-1.525). Nonetheless, this is his second top 10 of the season in 10 events, second consecutive after a tied-major-best T10 at the 86th Masters three weeks ago. The Texas A&M product is not in the published field at this coming week’s Wells Fargo in Maryland.

The Houston resident, who didn’t play an event between September 20, 2021 and January 18, 2022 due to injury, said today that he’s 100% (link below) and also stated, “I’m in great spirits in the head, in life.” He’ll be in the final group on Sunday with Rahm and Kurt Kitayama (66), vying for a fourth TOUR victory in 89 events, first since last season’s 3M Open 13 starts ago, where he came from two back (T4) with 5-under 66 out of the third-to-last twosome to win by two. The 26-year-old’s other two wins were as the 54-hole leader by four and three, respectively, at the 2019 Sanderson Farms and the 2020 Safeway. Today, he was rolling along bogey-free 6-under thru 14 holes, suffered back-to-back bogey-5s at 15 and 16 (failed scrambles), and then failed to birdie the par-5 last, losing 0.481 strokes on approach but gaining 1.152 off-the-tee and 2.340 on-the-green. At the three-quarter pole, the California native ranks 2nd SG: OTT (4.895) and 2nd SGP (6.891), but 67th in APP (-1.186).

The last time the California native was in the top 10 in an individual event at halfway was the 85th Masters a little over 12 months ago, where he was T6 before fading to T28 (72-68-77-72). He’s won three times on TOUR in 88 events, most recently the 2021 3M Open 13 starts ago, where he was T19 (four back) thru 36 holes before going on to a 2-shot victory (69-67-67-66) as a pre-tourney 125/1 outright. After kicking off with a five-birdie one-bogey 67, the 26-year-old rang up seven birdies against two bogeys on Day 2, gaining 2.763 strokes tee-to-green and 2.018 with the flat stick. At last check, he ranks 2nd SG: Off-the-Tee with a cumulative 3.687, 4th in SG: Putting (4.541), and 94th in SG: Approach (-0.776), including a 0.589 on approach in R2.

This was the 26-year-old’s third Masters, third cash and second top 20 (T19/2020). After opening with 72-75, he was T38 at the midpoint, one inside the cut line, but then styled weekend laps of 71-70, one of just three players this week to put up red numbers on Saturday and Sunday, and it earns him a return invite for next year’s 87th Masters. Overall, it’s the Texas A&M product’s second top 10 in nine majors, matching a T10 at the 2020 PGA (TPC Harding Park) six major starts ago, and his first top 10 on TOUR since winning last season’s 3M Open 12 starts ago for a third TOUR victory. For the week, he traded 13 birdies with 13 bogeys, though seven against four on a memorable weekend at Augusta National. The California native, whose post-tournament comments are below, is not in the published field at this coming week’s RBC Heritage.