PGA Tour
Buena Suerte: Brian Campbell wins Mexican Open in a playoff via a healthy dose of grit and good luck
Orlando Ramirez
Thankfully for Brian Campbell, the optimistic golfer's adage that trees are 90 percent air was not proved right late Sunday at Vidanta Vallarta. On the tee on 18, in the second playoff hole against 20-year-old South African Aldrich Potgieter, Campbell sent his drive careening into a stand of reedy bamboo stalks. Without the intervention of a merciful green trunk, he would have been miles out of bounds and relegated to another second-place finish; Campbell, you see, is known for second-place finishes, having turned in five such performances on the Korn Ferry Tour in his journeyman's career. Now 31, and recently graduated from the KFT, he certainly wouldn't kick second place PGA Tour money out of bed, but the bridesmaid narrative had worn thin. The man needed a bounce.
The man got a bounce. It was too hard on TV to identify the individual tree, or he might have bought it a glass of water. Maybe a whole bucket. The ball caromed into the right rough, and Campbell was able to lay up to 68 yards and relish the thought of unleashing his wicked wedge game. Potgieter, who had made the rookie mistake off the tee of driving it 321 yards straight down the fairway, had one big chance to seize the initiative, but to do that he needed to pull off something he'd failed in two previous tries on 18—get his second shot onto the green. His shot from 218 yards was a lovely high draw, a far cry from the pull hook he'd unleashed on the first playoff hole, but the helping wind didn't help enough, and he missed clearing the front bunker by two yards.
To find the energy to reach the mountaintop, sometimes you need to hang by one hand over the chasm, and Campbell, reborn, would not relinquish the chance to redefine his career. His wedge spun to inside four feet, Potgieter's bunker shot was merely average, and the South African did the journeyman a solid by missing his six-foot downhill birdie try. Now Campbell had his chance to win, and when he finished off the unlikely birdie, the manner in which his girlfriend Kelsi McKee collapsed to the ground spoke to many years living under the tyranny of that nasty word "almost."
Yes, this is Campbell's first PGA Tour win. Yes, he wins $1.26 million, a spot in the Masters, a spot in other majors and signature events and exemptions and etc. And yes, as Dan Hicks said in his moment of triumph on NBC, he can finally call himself a winner. How did he do it?
"Grit," he told Golf Channel in the immediate aftermath. "That's the only word I can think of right now. I'm literally freaking out on the inside, I have no idea what's going ... to be in this position is so unreal. I can't believe it, it's awesome."
But if you think he wasn't substantially grateful to el árbol milagroso, he did spare a thought for his new favorite tree:
"Oh my gosh, that bounce ... I mean, I'll take it."
Orlando Ramirez
He'll take it and run. Poor Potgieter, who hits the ball a country kilometer and was 50 yards ahead of Campbell all weekend, seemed to be one decent shot from winning over and over, but just couldn't get the break. Still, the young man took it in stride and said all the right things, even as his face betrayed at least trace amounts of shellshock.
"Pressure's a big thing," he admitted. "You can't really beat it. You just have to learn and adjust the next time you're in this position again."
Incredibly, by current year stats, this was a duel between the literal longest driver on Tour and the literal shortest, so you get the sense that if he can keep his head, Potgieter's going to get a second chance a lot faster than Campbell will.
Still, it was a tough day for Potgieter, the 54-hole leader who started his tournament with a blistering 65-61, but could only deliver a 71 on Sunday. Campbell also took a step back with a 70, but none of the chase pack could quite go low enough to make up the gap—least of all Stephan Jaeger, who many looked as the favorite in third place, but who turned in a 71 of his own. Isaiah Salinda, another KFT graduate, won the combativity prize in the final round, and his 65 was nearly good enough to sneak into a playoff. As it was, he came up a single shot short, but secured solo third over Aaron Rai and Ben Griffin, each of whom shot 67.
Hector Vivas
In a tournament with precious few big names in contrast to Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines, a few notable names still crept into the top 10, including Netflix heartthrob Joel Dahmen, European Ryder Cupper Nicolai Hojgaard, and Akshay Bhatia.
Campbell's up-and-down career is one that has demanded a generous amount of personal belief, and wins like these tend to serve as a beacon of hope for the toilers and muddlers of the sport. In the afterglow of victory, he had a message for them all.
"Trust yourself," he said. "This is a crazy game that we choose to play out here, but keep believing in yourself and have a lot of grit."
And it doesn't hurt to have a good green friend standing sentry high above a dream-killing white stake.