NAPA, Calif. – Cameron Champ broke out of an 11-month slump to win his second PGA Tour title at the Safeway Open on Sunday.
Champ, who fired a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Adam Hadwin, dedicated the victory to his grandfather Mack Champ, who is in hospice back in Sacramento with Stage IV stomach cancer.
“I mean, he’s the most loving man I know,” Cameron said of the man he calls “Pops.”
Champ entered the final round with a three-stroke lead and never looked back. He made birdie on three of the first six holes at Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course and turned in 33.
If there was a brief moment of discomfort for Champ it occurred at the par-3 11th when he duffed his chip from the thick rough guarding the front of the green. But Champ, who led the field in scrambling, rebounded by chipping in on his next shot to save par.
Champ struggled to live up to high expectations after winning the 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship last October. He hadn’t recorded a top-10 finish since the 2018 RSM Classic in November. But Champ used his prodigious length to dominate the par 5s at Silverado, and led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green and ranked second SG: Off the Tee.
“When he’s hitting it straight, it’s hard to catch up because he’s 40 (yards) ahead of me and he’s got wedge or 9-iron when I’m hitting 5-iron,” said Collin Morikawa, Champ’s third-round playing competitor. “But it’s awesome to watch…The talent is there and he just needs to keep it in play.”
Leishman drilled a 23-foot birdie putt to shoot 65, tied with Corey Conners for the low round of the day. But it wasn’t enough to catch Champ, who signed for a 72-hole total of 17-under 271.
