Rafael Campos shot a final-round 3-under 68 to put the finishing touches on his first PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Southampton, Bermuda.
In his 80th start, the Puerto Rico native grabbed his third-ever top-five finish by carding an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys to finish 19-under-par 265 for the tournament.
“After such a bad year, to have things kind of go my way, everything together at once, I’m just so happy and grateful to have the support I do,” an emotional Campos told the Golf Channel. “My team, my coaches, my sponsors, my family. My caddie did a great job today. I just can’t believe this is actually happening to me after such a year.
“I’m just grateful to be able to call myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s something I’ve dreamt about all my life.”
Campos came into the day tied for the lead having shot the lowest round of his career (62) on Saturday. He started slow with a bogey on No. 4 and was 1 over stepping up to the drive on No. 6, which is when he made his move.
A three-shot birdie on the par-4 gave him momentum, which he parlayed into an eagle on the par-5 seventh.
Shaking off another bogey on No. 9, Campos quickly sank back-to-back birdies on the next two holes, putting him at 3 under with seven holes to play.
“This game is so hard when things aren’t going well, so hard to actually get yourself to be confident,” Campos said. “Things have just been so different this week.”
Saturday’s other co-leader, Andrew Novak, had a similar slow start, and while he applied some pressure with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8, a bogey on 11 put him at even par, three strokes behind Campos. That’s where he would finish, 71 for the day and three strokes back overall at 16 under.
Justin Lower, who entered the day a stroke back, fell off the pace, carding bogeys on 14 and 15 to fall to 1 over, taking him out of the running as he finished the round with a 1-over 72.
From there, Campos did exactly what he need to do, shaking off his final bogey on 14 to sink a birdie on 17, setting up a two-stroke lead on Novak going into the final hole.
Any hopes of a playoff were quickly dashed, as Novak’s first shot sailed into the rough and his second went into a greenside bunker. He ended up with a bogey on the par-4 No. 18.
Campos calmly hit for par to sew up his first career win on the same week his wife gave birth to the couple’s daughter.
“It’s been an unbelievable week, best week of my life,” Campos said.
Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Mark Hubbard each finished with matching 5-under 66s to finish tied for third at 15 under overall.
Lower finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with Sam Ryder (69) and Vince Whaley (68).
–Field Level Media
