Cameron Champ is 'the happiest I've ever been' after winning 3M Open
Jul. 26—Cameron Champ finally said "enough" after the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit earlier this month.
He missed another cut — his fourth straight, with a withdrawal mixed in the same stretch — and wasn't enjoying the game. He hadn't recorded a top-20 since finishing 19th at the Masters in November. Something was missing, and it wasn't anything to do with technique.
"It's just been more of myself," Champ said.
It's not that he hadn't been successful. Champ, who just turned 26 in June, entered this week as a two-time PGA Tour winner — more than most can say. But he'd been getting frustrated on the course, something he never does away from it. It was negatively affecting his play.
"Obviously I've done a lot and I've had some success, but at the end of the day I still have to figure out myself and how I'm going to manage both of those sides (of life)," Champ said. "For it to be fun, I have to be true to myself and who I truly am as a person. That's kind of how I've been on the course. You know, this week I really didn't get mad at results. If I did get mad, it was more so what I was thinking before that shot and what caused me to hit that shot. So it's definitely for me a way better perspective as far as how to get around the course and also, like I said, dealing with personal life and golf."
Whatever Champ was searching for, he found it this week. A 5-under 66, highlighted by a stuck wedge on the 72nd hole, powered Champ to his third career PGA Tour victory Sunday, winning the 3M Open by two shots at 15 under.
Champ held off the likes of Jhonny Vegas, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who all tied for second at 13 under. Keith Mitchell finished solo fifth at 12 under.
Champ is one of four players currently 27 years old and younger to have won in three consecutive PGA Tour seasons, joining Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau — good company.
This was Champ's first top 10 finish since October. But he's proving to be a player who wins whenever the opportunity presents itself.
"Even today on No. 14 we were talking about playing kind of the rest of the season and kind of how we're going about it. I was telling (my caddie Chad Reynolds), 'There's no way
we're losing this,'" he said. "I feel like whenever I get in those moments, I'm super comfortable and super in the zone, and it feels like it's mine to take. It's not so much mine to lose, I feel like it's mine to take, and I feel that's how it was today."
Even as he battled dehydration over the last stretch of holes. But Champ credited a Gatorade consumed on No. 16 for helping him get to the finish line and fend off his competitors.
Oosthuizen nearly applied a touch more pressure on Champ coming down the stretch. Oosthuizen, who was playing a few groups ahead of the leaders, was at 12 under on the 18th hole, standing about 95 yards away from the pin for his third shot. He fired a lob wedge at the stick. His ball spun back and hit the cup with just a touch too much pace, causing it to skip over. Oosthuizen tapped in for birdie to take the clubhouse lead at 13 under.
Oosthuizen, who said he'd like to come back to this tournament in future years, has now finished second or third in four of his last five outings — including The Open Championship and the U.S. Open in that span.
"I was happy to play this week. I sort of didn't really want to just think about (The Open) last week, about not playing great on that Sunday and immediately quickly go back into tournament mode and then play this tournament," Oosthuizen said. "Great track. We had a good time here this week, and I'm just trying to see if I can go one better than all these seconds and thirds."
Not this week.
Champ made things interesting on No. 18, hitting his drive way right, behind the trees and into a patch of nasty tall grass. He punched his next shot through a window in the trees, just to the edge of the rough. A layup to 127 yards left Champ needing to get the ball down in three more shots to secure victory.
He stuffed his approach and saved par. Immediately after the approach, which sealed Champ's victory, he gave a sheepish wave to the television camera. Walking off the green after sinking the final putt, Champ was clearly emotional.
"It's just I know this is the player I can be, and again it's allowing myself to be that player," Champ said. "It has nothing to do with putting stats or driving stats or iron stats, none of that. It has to do with me allowing myself to be that player. Like I said again, I'm just in a lot better space with everything and enjoying myself and enjoying myself more at home. Again, for me, I'm the happiest I've ever been."
