Sanderson Farms Championship: Cameron Champ secures first PGA Tour win
PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ showcased his awesome talents with a victory in the Sanderson Farms Championship as tenacious as it was skilful.
Leaderboard
-21 Champ
-17 Conners
-15 Ortiz, Burns
-14 Castro, Albertson
Day four report
PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ showcased his awesome talents with a victory in the Sanderson Farms Championship as tenacious as it was skilful.
The 23-year-old, playing in just his second event as a full member, took a four-shot lead into the final round but was joined by Corey Conners through nine holes as the pair battled it out in an effective head-to-head.
Champ, unperturbed by a broken driver in practice prior to the final round, revealed another gear when he needed it most as four birdies from the 13th gave him a two-shot cushion to take to the closing holes.
Emotionless until a long-range birdie putt found its target at the difficult 16th, Champ demonstrated great poise to match his remarkable power as pars at both 17 and 18 saw him win by four.
At the 17th, a slightly errant tee-shot and a poor chip left him 15 feet for par, but the American youngster poured in the putt before recovering from a pull off the 18th to register one last birdie thanks to a stunning approach shot.
Conners laid down the gauntlet with final-round 68 and the recently-married Canadian did little wrong, except to run into one of the most exciting talents to emerge on the PGA Tour in recent years, a name expected to prove as well-known as Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, perhaps even Jordan Spieth.
Champ's power has long been touted as something so extraordinarily as to potentially change the game. Here, he demonstrated something else; that which might take him beyond this level and to another altogether.
If step one was to secure his card and step two was to win, step three promises much.
"It means everything," Champ told NBC. "All the hard work over the years, all the sacrifices my family has made for me to be able to have this opportunity.
"This last year has been just amazing. I was in school at this time last year, made it through q-school, Web.com Tour and now PGA Tour winner is just unreal."
A distant third place was shared by Carlos Ortiz and Sam Burns, the former carding a closing 64, while fifth was shared between Roberto Castro - our 125/1 tip - and Anders Albertson.
Day three report
American Cameron Champ fired a round of 64 to reclaim the sole lead after day three in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Big-hitting Champ fired nine birdies, a bogey on the par-four sixth the only blemish on his day, to open a four-shot lead in Mississippi.
Norman Xiong, who had held a share of the lead after round two, tumbled to joint 36th after hitting two double-bogeys and finishing with a round of 76.
Canadian Corey Conners jumped up to second place, mixing a solitary bogey on the par-four 12th with nine birdies, and matching Champ's eight-under 64 to get to 13 under.
American DJ Trahan - who won the event when it was known as Southern Farm Bureau Classic in 2006 - shares third place with compatriot Shawn Stefani on 12 under.
Scotland's Martin Laird rose up the leaderboard into joint fifth place, hitting six birdies for a round of 66, while Ireland's Seamus Power followed his second-round 68 with a 70 to drop into joint 19th on seven under.
Day two report
Cameron Champ bogeyed his final two holes to surrender sole leadership of the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.
Big-hitting Champ, who started on the back nine, could not match his opening 65 and was clinging to a one-shot lead until bogeys on the eighth and ninth holes saw him card a 70.
That left him level with Norman Xiong and one shot clear of Shawn Stefani and Jonathan Byrd.
While Champ remained at the top of the leaderboard, his closest challengers from the end of the first round largely fell away on Friday.
Cameron Triangle followed up his opening 66 with a 73, dropping shots on the second and 16th holes with his only birdie on the par-three seventh.
Xiong, starting on the back nine, got off to a flying start with an eagle on the par-five 10th, but promptly dropped a shot on the par-four 11th.
But four more birdies on his round saw him card a 67, moving him seven places up the leaderboard.
Scotland's Martin Laird rose up the leaderboard with a round of 67, putting him into a share of 15th place alongside Ireland's Seamus Power, who followed up his opening 71 with a 68.
Day one report
Big-hitting American Cameron Champ fired an opening round of 65 to set the pace in the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.
Champ, who averaged 343 yards off the tee on the second-tier Web.com Tour last season, carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey at The Country Club of Jackson to finish seven under par.
That gave the 23-year-old Californian a one-shot lead over compatriot Cameron Tringale, with South African Rory Sabbatini and Argentina's Andres Romero part of a group a shot further back on five under.
Former US Open champion Lucas Glover was three shots off the lead thanks to a bogey-free 68, with defending champion Ryan Armour two under par after dropping his only shot of the day on the 18th.
Ireland's Seamus Power, who kept his PGA Tour card by just six points in the FedEx Cup standings last season, carded two birdies and one bogey in a one-under-par 71.
Scotland's Martin Laird returned a level-par 72 which was matched by world number 76 Dylan Frittelli, the highest ranked player in the field.
Fifteen players were unable to complete their round before play was suspended due to darkness.
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