Cameron Champ

Cameron Champ
Personal information
Full nameCameron Mackray Champ
Born (1995-06-15) June 15, 1995 (age 29)
Sacramento, California
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceHouston, Texas
Career
CollegeTexas A&M University
Turned professional2017
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins4
Highest ranking66 (July 25, 2021)[1]
(as of November 24, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Korn Ferry Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT10: 2022
PGA ChampionshipT10: 2020
U.S. OpenT32: 2017
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Cameron Mackray Champ (born June 15, 1995) is an American professional golfer from Sacramento, California.[2]

College career

For the Texas A&M Aggies he won the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational and finished in the top 10 of six other tournaments. He finished second to Adam Wise in the Pac-12 Robert Brandi Invitational.[3]

2017 U.S. Open

Champ qualified for the 2017 U.S. Open through sectional qualifying, where he had to compete in a playoff.[4] It was his first major appearance.[5] After two rounds, he was tied for eighth place,[6] and was also leading the driving distance statistics.[7] Along with Scottie Scheffler, he was one of only two amateurs to make the cut.[8] Scheffler finished as the low amateur at 1-under-par, while Champ finished at even-par.

Professional career

In December 2017, Champ tied for 16th in the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament.[9] This earned him a place on the Web.com Tour for the start of 2018.

During the 2018 Web.com Tour season, Champ won the 2018 Utah Championship in July 2018.[10] He earned his tour card for the 2018–19 PGA Tour season by earning $253,731 and finishing 6th in the 2018 Web.com Tour regular season.[10]

On October 28, 2018, Champ won his first PGA Tour title by winning the Sanderson Farms Championship with a score of −21.[11] Over and above his win, Champ had an excellent 2018 Fall Series, finishing T25 at the Safeway Open, T28 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, T10 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and 6th at the RSM Classic. This brought his world ranking up to 97 as of November 19, 2018 and left him 6th on the FedEx Cup standings heading into the 2019 calendar year.

Champ is known for being one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour. In 2017, Champ registered a 129.79 mph average clubhead speed in his debut at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.[12]

Champ has worked with instructor Sean Foley since age 14 and although he hits a lower ball flight than the average long hitter on the PGA Tour, Champ was the longest driver on tour for the 2018–19 season with a 317.1 yard average. For the 2018 Web.com tour season, Champ averaged 343.1 yards off the tee and led the 2017 U.S. Open in driving distance at 337 yards.

On September 29, 2019, Champ won the Safeway Open with a birdie at the 72nd hole. It was his first win in a full−strength PGA Tour tournament.

On June 23, 2020, prior to the Travelers Championship, Champ became the second PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 after Nick Watney did the week before.[13]

On July 25, 2021, Champ scored a two stroke victory at the 3M Open after hitting a gap wedge on the 72nd hole from 127 yards to within 3 feet to save par. He had five birdies and no bogeys in his final round to shoot 15-under 269 at TPC Twin Cities. Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas and Charl Schwartzel tied for second.[14]

Personal life

Champ is of mixed black and white descent. His father is biracial (black and white), while Cameron's mother is white.[15][16] Cameron's father Jeff played two seasons of professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization.[17] Champ supports Black Lives Matter.[18]

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 28, 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship 65-70-64-68=267 −21 4 strokes Canada Corey Conners
2 Sep 29, 2019 Safeway Open 67-68-67-69=271 −17 1 stroke Canada Adam Hadwin
3 Jul 25, 2021 3M Open 69-67-67-66=269 −15 2 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa Charl Schwartzel,
Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas

Web.com Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Jul 15, 2018 Utah Championship 61-64-67-68=260 −24 1 stroke United States Steven Ihm

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2017 2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T32
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament T19 T26 T10 CUT
PGA Championship T54 T10 CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship NT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 3 11 6
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2017 U.S. Open – 2020 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022
The Players Championship WD C CUT CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2020 2021
Championship T48
Match Play NT1
Invitational T25 T31
Champions NT1 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Did not play

NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 30 2021 Ending 25 Jul 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Herrington, Ryan (June 16, 2017). "Meet the amateur bomber who's powered his way on to the U.S. Open leader board". Golf Digest. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Sobel, Jason (June 16, 2017). "Cameron Champ dazzles with long drives, low scores at U.S. Open". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (June 16, 2017). "Meet amateur Cameron Champ, who averaged 350-yard drives Thursday at U.S. Open". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  5. ^ Romine, Brentley (June 14, 2017). "Cameron Champ's journey to U.S. Open is one of redemption". Golfweek. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  6. ^ Townsend, Brad (June 16, 2017). "No Aggie joke: Texas A&M's Cameron Champ tied for eighth in U.S. Open while Johnson, McIlroy, Day watch from grandstand". SportsDay. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  7. ^ Ritter, Jeff (June 16, 2017). "At halftime of the U.S. Open, long-hitting amateur Cameron Champ is living up to his name". Golf.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  8. ^ "Cameron Champ shoots 69, finds top 10 at U.S. Open". Amateurgolf.com. June 16, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  9. ^ Prise, Kevin (December 10, 2017). "Meet the 45 (and ties): Who advanced through Final Stage?". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Cameron Champ – Profile". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  11. ^ Berhow, Josh (October 28, 2018). "The 30-second guide to the Sanderson Farms Championship: Who won, best shot and more". Golf.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  12. ^ Myers, Alex (November 15, 2017). "How fast are PGA Tour clubhead speeds? The answer has changed a LOT in the past decade". Golf Digest. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  13. ^ Harig, Bob (June 23, 2020). "Cameron Champ out of Travelers after testing positive for COVID-19". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cameron Champ is the 3M Open champ after fighting off dehydration on back-nine". Golf Channel. Associated Press. July 25, 2021. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  15. ^ "The backstory for Texas A&M's Cameron Champ even better than his U.S. Open score". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. June 17, 2017. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  16. ^ Ritter, Jeff (June 16, 2017). "At halftime of the U.S. Open, long-hitting amateur Cameron Champ is living up to his name". Golf.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  17. ^ "Rosaforte: Champ's family struggle with racism". Golf Channel. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  18. ^ Schupak, Adam (August 27, 2020). "Cameron Champ speaks out, PGA Tour issues statement supporting Black Lives Matter protests". Golfweek. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.