Pain, persistence part of Champ’s journey

Texas A& M standout fought back injury

Texas A& M senior Cameron Champ qualified for his first major championship by hanging tough.

After missing a 5- footer for par on his 36th and final hole, the par- 4 ninth at Big Canyon at the June 5 U. S. Open sectional qualifier in Newport Beach, Calif., Champ found himself tied with Stanford junior Brandon Wu for the sixth and final qualifying spot at 6 under.

“Obviously, I was frustrated,” Champ said, “but I still knew I had a chance.”

As daylight grew thinner, Champ got another crack at a clinching putt on Big Canyon’s ninth hole, the first of the playoff, as he stared down a 30- footer for birdie. Wu had a longer putt on a similar line and left his birdie attempt just shy of the hole. Champ, knowing the line, wasn’t going to leave his short. He didn’t.

Champ gave a big fist pump, but it was his father, Jeff, who had the bigger celebration. His son was going to play in the 2017 U. S. Open at Erin Hills.

“My dad was kind of yelling, all happy and stuff,” Champ said of the man who carried his bag for the second round. “He was just proud of me, the way I fought. … I had a few tough breaks coming in, but to make that putt, it was kind of just icing on the cake.” Champ is used to bouncing back. The Sacramento native arrived in College Station, Texas, as a touted recruit who crushed the ball off the tee. But his first semester with the Aggies got off to an unfortunate start. Champ had to withdraw from his first college event with a back injury: two bulging disks and a minor stress fracture.

“It didn’t require surgery. I basically had to let it heal on its own,” Champ said. “It just took time.”

Even as a sophomore, Champ had problems with his back. The pain would return at times, and even when his back wasn’t hurting, he was always worried about doing damage.

“I was always like, ‘ I don’t want to hit this particular shot because it might cause me pain,’ ” Champ said. “This year was the first year I didn’t really have to worry about anything. I have no stress about that now. I can just play.”

As a junior, Champ enjoyed his best season. He won the Olympia Fields/ Fighting Illini Invitational, an event he had withdrawn from two years earlier, and posted four other top- five finishes to go with a 71.5 scoring average in 34 rounds. He capped his year with topsix finishes in five of his last seven starts, including a T- 5 showing in the Southeastern Conference Championship, where he also went 3- 0 in match play.

Champ is back to his normal self. He recently made a trip to Ping, and his ball speed with the driver was measured at 190 mph. He’s excited about his senior year, too, as he has 14 credit hours left to complete his bachelor’s degree in sports management ( he’ll take 12 of the credit hours in the fall).

“It will be nice in the spring to be able to just focus on golf,” Champ said.

Champ’s current focus is on Erin Hills. He left Friday for Wisconsin and planned to walk the course with family friend John Wood, who caddies for PGA Tour pro Matt Kuchar. He also set up practice rounds with several pros, including Rory McIlroy, through his instructor, Sean Foley.

As for Champ’s dad, he will watch from outside the ropes. Jeff has a bad back, too, and it was hurting him after his looping stint in the sectional qualifier. What’s the only thing that got him through?

“His adrenaline was going the whole day, especially down the stretch,” Champ said.

Chances are that adrenaline will return at 3: 31 p. m. ET Thursday, when the dad watches his son tee off in his first major championship.