Cameron Champ

Was introduced to golf by his grandfather, Mack, a Vietnam veteran, at the age of 2. Grew up playing a par-3 course near his house called the Foothill Golf Center, where the monthly pass was $50. His grandfather always reminded him, "It's not where you come from, it's where you're going." Cameron's father, Jeff, played two seasons of professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization. His career ended with an errant pitch from MLB Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson, who hit him and knocked him out of baseball.
Champ got his footing in golf in 2003 when he joined The First Tee of Greater Sacramento. Named a two-time Rolex American Junior Golf Association All-American in 2012 and 2013. Earned runner-up finishes at both the 2012 PGA Junior Championship and the AJGA PING Invitational. Entered Texas A&M as a sophomore in class standing with 31 college credits earned while in high school. Battled a series of injuries during his debut season at Texas A&M, playing in just six events. In his sophomore season, he registered four top-10 finishes. As a junior, he won his first collegiate tournament at the Fighting Illini Invitational. Champ's second win as a college player was a playoff victory in the Patriot All-America tournament in December of 2016 at The Wigwam Resort in Arizona. In that tournament, players honor a fallen soldier by carrying a bag with that individual's name written on it. Champ honored Staff Sergeant Andrew W. Harvell.
2017 Notes: Semifinalist for the 2017 Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. Champ qualified for the 2017 U.S. Open through sectional qualifying. It was his first start in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. After two rounds, he was T-8th with rounds of 70-69 and was leading the driving-distance statistics. Shot 73-76 over the weekend to finish T-32nd and missed low amateur honors by a stroke behind Scottie Scheffler. Later in the summer, he was named to the Walker Cup team. Played in one tournament for Texas A&M as a senior but elected to turn professional after the event. In December 2017, Champ finished T-16th in the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, thus earning a place for 2018.
2018 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 21; Rounds Played - 74; In Money - 16; Top-10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 69.04 (rank 2nd); Regular Season Money - $253,731 (rank 6th); Playoff Money - $24,940 (rank 47th), Priority Rank - 11. Champ started his year slowly and got his first top-10 in his 11th start of the year, a T-4th at the Rust-Oleum Championship. His next finish was a 7th at the Wichita Open, followed by a T-5th at the Lincoln Land Championship and T-8th at the LECOM Health Challenge. He ran the streak to five consecutive top-10s with a win at the Utah Championship, beating Steven Ihm by a shot. With the win, he became the second graduate of The First Tee to win on the Web.Com Tour. Going into the Rust-Oleum Championship, he was 60th on the money list, and after his Utah win, was 3rd. Earned his PGA Tour card for 2019 by finishing 6th on the regular-season money list. Showed how far he could hit the ball as he led the Korn Ferry Tour in Driving Distance.
2019 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events, making 14 cuts with three top-10 finishes. Two weeks after his last Korn Ferry Tour start, he finished T-25th at the Safeway Open. In his second start as an official member of the PGA Tour (ninth career start), he won the Sanderson Farms Championship by four strokes over Corey Conners. Birdied five of his last six holes in the final round to seal the victory. While warming up prior to the final round, he cracked his driver's head. A replacement was found before his tee time. Known for his length off the tee, led the field in Driving Distance, averaging 308 yards. In his fourth start of the year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, he shot a second-round 62 and finished T-10th. The next week at the RSM Classic shot a second-round 63 and finished 6th, three strokes out of the Howell III/Rodgers playoff. Earned a spot in the Sentry TofC and finished T-11th thanks to a final-round 67. After that, Champ struggled with his game: he made the FedExCup playoffs and had a T-21st finish at the Northern Trust, which was his best result since the Sentry. Finished the year 62nd in the FedExCup race.
2020 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with two top-10 finishes. Was 65th in the FedExCup standings. In his second event of the season, his 35th PGA Tour career start, he won the Safeway Open by a stroke over Adam Hadwin. He was 24 years and 106 days old when he won. His grandfather, Mack, had just entered hospice care for stage-four stomach cancer. Cameron wrote "POPS" on his shoes and golf balls and delivered an emotional speech dedicating the win to his grandfather. Mack passed away a month later. After the break for COVID-19, Champ finished T-14th at Charles Schwab and T-12th at Rocket Mortgage. He was T-10th at the PGA Championship and in the FedExCup playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust, was T-65th at the BMW Championship, and T-24th at the Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events making 14 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 57th in the FedExCup standings. He finished T-8th at the Zozo Championship@Sherwood, where he shot 65-67 over the weekend. Won the 3M Open by two shots, earning his third PGA Tour victory in his 76th start at the age of 26 years, 1 month, 10 days. Entered the tournament outside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings with only three weeks remaining until the start of the FedExCup playoffs and moved to No. 49, clinching a spot in the top 125. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-27th at the Northern Trust and T-66th at the BMW Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events making 8 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 144th in the FedExCup standings. He Was T-10th at the Masters, was T-6th at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, three back of the winner Jon Rahm. He was tied for the lead in the final round but made a triple-bogey 7 on the 8th hole. For the first time since joining the PGA Tour didn't make it into the FedExCup playoffs.
2023 Notes: Was 8th at the Zozo Championship.