In the penultimate event of the FedExCup Fall season, Rafael Campos won his first PGA Tour title. But this is the second most memorable life event this week as Campos and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter this past monday. In his 80th career PGA Tour start and facing the reality of losing his PGA Tour card, Campos battled the windy conditions to come out on top at 19-under, beating Andrew Novak by three strokes.
“I had a daughter on Monday and it doesn’t matter if I play bad, they don’t care. If I end up losing my job, I lost my job and I’ve got a beautiful daughter and beautiful wife back home just waiting for me to hopefully give ’em a hug. Hopefully I have a good day tomorrow and we’ll see how we end up” Campo said Saturday night after his round of 62.
Entering Sunday, Campos and Novak were tied atop the leaderboard at 16-under. Both players shot career low rounds of 62 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over the rest of the field. Justin Lower was sitting at 15-under at the start of the fourth round and was tied for the lead before a double bogey on the 8th hole derailed his round. Campos opened the back 9 birdieing the 10th and 11th holes, opening up his lead to three strokes over Novak.
The round was not all smooth sailing for Campos, bogeying 2 holes on the front nine and three-putting for bogey on the 14th hole to cut his lead down to two. Campos made up for the bogey by making birdie on the par 5 17th hole to match Novak’s birdie after his eagle putt to tie came up inches short. Both players hit poor second shots over the green on the 18th hole leaving Campos long over the green and Novak with a difficult greenside bunker shot. Campos made his up and down for par while Novak’s bunker shot ran past the hole leaving him with a long par putt that he missed.
An emotional Campos said this after his final round 68 on Sunday, “I’m just grateful to be able to call myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s something I’ve dreamt about all my life. I just want to call my family. It’s been an unbelievable week, best week of my life.”
Coming into this week, Campos sat at 147 in the FedEx Cup standings, he needed a strong finish to this season just to keep his PGA Tour status. He did just that and more by notching his first career win in Bermuda this week. With this win he is fully exempt on tour through the 2026 season and has earned a spot into The Players, The Masters and the PGA Championship all for the first time in his career. Campos will also take home $1,242,000 in prize money that will help him and his wife pay for their newborn daughter’s diapers and baby formula.
Multiple PGA Tour players made significant jumps in the FedEx Cup list, and with one event remaining, every point is needed. Novak jumped up 23 spots to number 70 thanks to his second-place finish. Vince Whaley moved off the bubble and up 10 spots to number 113 and Sam Ryder moved to 122 on the list, both finishing T5 this week. Wesley Bryan moved to the coveted 125 spot after tying the course record Saturday shooting 61 but following it up with a disappointing round of 74 Sunday to finish T17.
The FedExCup fall season wraps up in St. Simons Island in Georgia for the RSM Classic. Last year’s defending champ Ludvig Aberg will be trying to defend his maiden PGA Tour title just a couple months removed from knee surgery. There is a lot at stake as the top 125 in the FedExCup standings – after next week’s event, they will secure their fully exempt status for the 2025 PGA Tour season.
