Rookie Champ lives up to name
LOS ANGELES: American rookie Cameron Champ captured his first US PGA title on Sunday, making birdies on five of the last six holes to win the Sanderson Farms Championship by four strokes.
The 23-year-old Californian, in only his ninth tour start, took a wire-to-wire victory with a finalround four-under 68 to finish 72 holes at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi on 21-under 267.
“It just means everything, all the hard work over the years, all the sacrifices my family made for me to have this opportunity. Now to be a PGA Tour winner is just unreal.”
Champ outlasted Canada’s Corey Conners, who got married last weekend and nearly won his first PGA title but settled for his best tour result, shooting 68 to finish on 271.
Champ concluded a run of four birdies in a row by rolling in a curving putt from 38 feet on a shadow-filled 16th green to seize a two-stroke advantage.
At the par-4 17th, Champ was short of the green and rolled his third shot 15 feet past the cup before sinking a tricky downhill par putt, keeping his margin after Conners left a 17-foot birdie putt just short.
Conners closed with a bogey while Champ sank a seven-foot birdie putt to end it, then hugged his father Jeff and yelled over a cell phone to his grandfather, who introduced him to golf.
“Grandpa, we did it for you,” Champ said.
Champ began with a fourstroke lead when the day began and tapped in for birdie at the par-5 third, but took back-toback bogeys at the par-3 seventh after missing the green and the par-4 eighth after finding water off the tee.
“Today was a new experience for me,” Champ said. “The front side was a little bit of nerves. The back side I put it all together and brought it home.”
Conners birdied the par-4 second from 11 feet and the par-5 third from six feet to tighten the gap, then concluded the front nine with a 13-foot birdie putt to grab a share of the lead as the back nine began.
Both birdied the par-3 13th but Champ followed by sinking a 19foot birdie at the par-5 14th while Conners blasted out of a bunker and missed an 18-foot birdie putt.
Each then birdied the par-4 15th to leave Champ ahead by one as the tension mounted.