Saturday's golf: Campos becomes father on Monday, shares lead at Bermuda

Saturday’s golf: Campos becomes father on Monday, shares lead at Bermuda

Posted by Admin November 16, 2024 Golf

Detroit News staff
| The Detroit News

Southampton, Bermuda — Rafael Campos celebrated the birth of his daughter on Monday and now is in position for another big moment. He set a personal best with a 9-under 62 on Saturday to share the lead going into the final round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Andrew Novak also shot a 62 on a day when the wind became ferocious toward the end of the round at Port Royal, with gusts topping 40 mph. Novak caught a break on the 18th when his tee shot was rolling back down a cart path and hopped onto the grass.

Justin Lower, who began the blustery day with a 62, drove into the water on the par-5 18th and scrambled for a bogey for a 68 to finish one shot behind.

Campos and Novak were at 16-under 197, both searching for their first victory. The timing couldn’t be better in so many ways for Campos, the 36-year-old from Puerto Rico with an abundance of gratitude that has made him a favorite among his peers.

He is No. 147 in the FedEx Cup with one tournament remaining to try to get into the top 125 and keep full status for next year. And then his wife gave birth to their first child, Paola Isabel, on Monday.

There was no discussion about Campos playing. His job was at stake, which led them to induce labor. And he said it eased some of the stress he has been feeling after missing four straight cuts as his ranking kept falling.

“My wife is extremely understanding on where I’m standing on the FedEx, first of all,” he said, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “The whole process of trying to induce labor on Monday was for me to try to get to the tournament, so we were always looking to try to see if I can make it here.”

They got home from the hospital at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“I held my daughter. I thought in like 20 minutes I had to go to the airport,” he said. “I do want to provide for them as much as I can, so we’re here and fortunate everything went well. It’s a bonus that I’m doing well this week.”

It went great on Saturday in the strong wind, which Campos enjoys. He chipped in for birdie on the 15th, holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the scary par-3 16th, got up-and-down with another tester of a birdie putt on the 17th and held on for par on the closing hole.

The wind was out of a different direction. Players who had been hitting as little as wedge to the 18th earlier in the week were hitting as much as hybrids.

Lower said of the four-hole closing stretch: “I don’t think that’s golf if you ask me. Balls were going backwards in the air.”

He also said the PGA Tour treats the lesser-known players differently.

“I realize that a lot of people had to play in it, but I don’t think it’s fair if that makes sense,” Lower said. “I think if a top-10 or top-15 player in the world was here and they wanted to stop, I think the rules officials would have said, ‘Yeah, we’ll stop.’ When anyone else in the field, if we would have said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable playing in this,’ we would have been told ‘tough’ and to proceed with the round.”

Lower is coming off a runner-up finish last week in Mexico. He also is going for his first PGA Tour win, which feels even more critical with the PGA Tour likely to reduce exempt status to the top 100 players starting in 2026.

This is the first time Campos has had a share of the 54-hole lead. He also was tied at the Puerto Rico Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, both in 2021.

The circumstances are different this time around.

“I’m in a really tough spot right now on the FedEx, I did not want to be in this position. I want a job for next year, I really do,” Campos said. “I’ve put a lot of pressure and stress and just everything the last like six months. I think really everything has changed this week, not because I’m playing well.

“I had a daughter on Monday and it doesn’t matter if I play bad, they don’t care. If I end up losing my job, I lost my job and I’ve got a beautiful daughter and beautiful wife back home just waiting for me to hopefully give ’em a hug. Hopefully I have a good day tomorrow and we’ll see how we end up.”

European Tour

Rory McIlroy was tied for the lead with Rasmus Hojgaard and Antoine Rozner heading into the final round of the season-ending World Tour Championship as the Northern Irishman closed in on a sixth Race to Dubai title at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

McIlroy could have taken the lead outright but his birdie putt at the last hole horseshoed the cup, leaving him to make par for a 4-under 68 and 12-under par for the tournament alongside Hojgaard (66).

Rozner, who started the third round with a one-stroke lead, made it a three-way tie at the top by rolling in an eagle putt from 8 feet at No. 18 for a 69.

They were two strokes ahead of Jesper Svensson (68) and Joaquin Niemann (69), with Tyrrell Hatton (71) a further shot back after an expletive-filled round that included him snapping a club.

McIlroy looks sure of winning another Race to Dubai – formerly Order of Merit – crown for the most points gained throughout the year on the European tour. It would be title No. 6, tying him with the late Seve Ballesteros and leaving him two behind the record of Colin Montgomerie.

But the No. 3-ranked McIlroy’s aim has been to hold two trophies on the 18th green on Sunday as he goes for his fourth tournament victory of the season worldwide, after the Dubai Desert Classic on the European tour and the Zurich Classic team event and the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour.

“It’s a great opportunity to end the year on a really high note,” McIlroy said. “Going to go out there tomorrow and give it everything I can and hopefully things fall my way and I’m able to stand on that 18th green with both trophies.”

Hojgaard birdied six of his first eight holes and made pars the rest of his round, making five at the last despite driving onto rocks guarding the water and needing to take a drop and then getting a free drop after nearly hitting his approach out of bounds.

“It was looking more like an 8 at some point,” he said.

Hojgaard is looking to emulate his twin brother, Nicolai, who won the season-closing event in Dubai last year.

“We talked about it earlier this week, how cool it would be – another Højgaard could defend the title,” Rasmus Hojgaard said. “It would be quite cool if that was to happen.”

Both Hojgaard and the No. 154-ranked Rozner are seeking to claim one of the 10 PGA Tour cards on offer for next season from the European tour. Rasmus would be joining Nicolai in the United States if that happens.

As for Rozner, he said his focus was “on tomorrow and tomorrow only” despite Sunday being potentially life-changing for him.

“Put a good score, and that’s the only thing that’s going to matter now for me,” said Rozner, a three-time winner on the European tour. “I have to come out with the right mindset.”

Hatton started the day one shot off the lead but an incident-filled round included him missing a par putt from inside 2 feet at No. 4 and pressing his iron so hard into the ground after pulling his third shot at No. 14 that it snapped.

“It’s time for change, I’m afraid. That’s a terrible influence on the next generation,” said Ewen Murray, who was commentating on British broadcaster Sky Sports.

Earlier, after missing a five-foot putt for birdie at No. 11, Hatton slammed his putter down on the green and repeatedly swore in comments picked up on TV.

The European tour said Hatton would be fined for breaching its code of conduct.